Despite being close in trade relations, the United States keeps China at a distance, said a panel of experts in Maxwell Auditorium on Monday.

“U.S.-China Relations, Misperceptions and Policy: An Interdisciplinary Conversation” addressed misconceptions about the relationship between China and the United States, dispelling images of a deceitful China.

Respective missteps fuel a mutual distrust between China and the United States, specifically a lack of communication between the two countries. Both are unclear about their intentions and frequently misread each other. Unfamiliarity with the other’s cultural values fuels contradictory perceptions, and China’s growing pains as it joins the global economy further ripple the relationship, panelists said.

James Steinberg, former deputy secretary of state and dean of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs; Mary Lovely, co-editor of the China Economic Review; and Dr. Terry Lautz, a former public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center, spoke in 10-minute turns on the U.S.-China relationship, followed by a Q-and-A session at the end.

The Coalition of Multicultural Public Administration Students organized the panel as a part of a series on regions misrepresented in the media.

China’s newfound global strength has created tension in international relations — one between an “established power,” like the United States, and a rising one, such as China, Steinberg said.

These relationships typically grow shaky as both countries try to guess the other’s intentions. Such countries may unwittingly threaten the other while acting to protect their own security, Steinberg said.

Cultural alienation worsens this lack of insight, Lautz said.

China views the United States as a model and trade partner, but also as a “bully and a hegemon,” he said. The United States, meanwhile, oscillates between acknowledging China’s success and lacking confidence in the longevity of its authoritarian government.

China has established multiple Confucius Institutes around the world, Lautz said, which are nonprofit organizations that promote the Chinese culture and language.

These institutes reinforce the perception in the United States of China as “backward,” he said.

“These are Confucius Institutes, not ‘Mao Zedong Institutes,’” Lautz said. “This is glorifying the values of China’s past rather than its diverse contemporary culture.”

He said American culture remains an enigma within China, as well.

“The diversity and the vitality of American life is not conveyed by public diplomacy,” he said.

The best understanding of American culture and values lies in the private sector, where it is less visible, Lautz said.

Despite these lapses in understanding, China and the United States depend on each other for their success, providing a strong reason to cooperate.

China has seen a 2.3-percent growth rate per year, Lovely said.

Though questions remain about how China will change the global economy, the outlook is positive for the United States, Lovely said. The gains from America’s trade relationship with China have been “shared widely,” she said, though they were obscured by a weak U.S. economy.

Buddy Stora, a public administration and international affairs graduate student, said the panel was a good introduction to the topic.

“I don’t know much about U.S.-China foreign policy, so it was enlightening, and to get away from the general rhetoric that you really hear was good,” he said. “The issue is not so black-and-white.”

Published on April 2, 2013 at 1:39 am

Contact Natsumi: najisaka@syr.edu