When China and the United States agreed in May to frame their relationship as a “constructive relationship of strategic stability”, the phrase left many observers trying to guess what it actually meant.
Four months on, they have added an elaboration that offers further insight into the two sides’ respective priorities.
After presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump met in Washington last month, the two sides pledged to build a “constructive relationship of strategic stability on the basis of respect, fairness and reciprocity”.
According to people familiar with the matter, the new phrasing was agreed following a diplomatic back and forth in which Washington had pushed for the relationship to be defined by “fairness and reciprocity”, while Beijing insisted that “respect” be written in as well.