South China Sea not issue between China, US

They have signed the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and made progress in consultation on formulating the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.

The United States should live up to its pledge of not taking sides on the issue. China welcomes the United States putting forward constructive proposals but they have to be feasible.

China'construction projects on some inhabited islets of the Nansha Islands aim to improve working and living conditions of locals and are in line with strict environmental protection standards. They will not break the balance of power in the region nor challenge navigational freedom.

Freedom of navigation and flyover, in fact has never been a problem and will not be a problem. China has the same concern as other countries over the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, as most of its merchandise is transported through this region.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi recently said, "China is willing to work with other parties in keeping freedom of navigation and flyover in the South China Sea."

Seven decades ago, China and the United States were allies against the Fascist forces. In the future, they will nurture a positive mode of cooperation and supplement each other on major issues.

Later this month, President Xi Jinping will pay his first state visit to the United States. His visit is widely expected to draw up a clearer design for ties.

When meeting with his US counterpart Barack Obama in June 2013 in California, Xi proposed a concept known as "a new model of major-country relations." A year and five months later, when Obama visited China, the two identified priorities for building the new model of major-country relations.

Based on avoiding confrontation and conflict, and embracing mutual respect and win-win cooperation, this diplomatic notion between the world's two biggest economies has been lauded as creative thinking in state-to-state relations.

But to implement it, the two countries need to stay focused, maintain long-term perspective and manage differences between them on challenging problems like the South China Sea disputes.

If they can negotiate every whirlpool issue like this, they will navigate their relationship into much wider waters.