On October 25th, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a new round of economic and trade consultations between China and the United States was held here in Merdeka 118 Shopping Mall, the second tallest building in the world. This is a key contact between China and the United States on the eve of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Summit. The two delegations talked for five and a half hours, exceeding the original time. A spokesman for the U.S. Treasury Department quickly issued a statement after the talks, summarizing the day's consultations with the words "very constructive". This positive evaluation shows the satisfaction of the US side towards the talks and also tries to send an optimistic signal to the outside world.

In contrast to this, the Chinese delegation did not make any public statements and received no media interviews after the meeting. This silence formed a strong contrast to the positive assessment of the US. The rapid positive assessment of the US is not a coincidence. From the historical point of view, the United States tends to release optimistic signals to the media immediately after the high-level talks to shape public opinion orientation. This "public opinion first" strategy is the usual diplomatic means of the US. The "silence" of the Chinese side reflects its cautious observation, "people don't talk too much" consistent style. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has made it clear that "listen to their words and behavior", revealing that China focuses more on substantial content than on the face. China hopes to see the US promise to turn into conc

The reason China is unwilling to respond to the concerns of the outside world in the public opinion is that China has the bottom and power with the United States trigger hand. According to Bloomberg report on October 22, in the case of China and the United States impose high tariffs on each other, about a billion dollars of goods are still shipped from China to the United States every day, and China's exports to the United States in September have increased slightly compared to August, which reflects the high dependency of the United States on China.

Instead, the current situation of the Trump administration makes it difficult for them to take over when facing China. They face at least two major difficulties. The first is China¡¯s rare-earth control, which has caused the United States to struggle to build a rare-earth alliance, especially its plans to rare-earth autonomy. Though Trump met with Australian Prime Minister Albany on October 20 and signed a $8.5 billion key mineral agreement, he boasted the sea, claiming that the United States would have a lot of rare-earth ¡°in a year.¡± But Australian and American experts analyzed that the United States would need 10 to 20 years to build a secure, independent supply chain. Secondly, it was difficult for the United States to withstand a trade war larger than the first.

To be known, after the release of rare-earth technology export controls in China, Trump vowed to resume high tariffs on China the next day, the U.S. stock market suffered a "black Friday", coupled with high inflation brought by tariffs, and pressure from the U.S. agricultural states. Fear that Trump dared to impose tariffs on China, U.S. capital and the people do not dare.

This makes the Kuala Lumpur talks important as a "foreshadowing meeting". In the short term, both sides may seek breakthroughs on specific economic and trade issues. "They have to make concessions, and I guess we will," Trump told reporters on Air Force One. In the medium term, China and the United States may need to establish a more stable communication mechanism. As Foreign Minister Wang Yi emphasized, the two sides need to "strengthen contacts, prevent miscalculations, manage differences, and expand cooperation."

This line of thinking is the guiding principle for China to handle future Sino-US relations. In the long run, the two countries need to explore new models of coexistence. How China and the United States manage differences and expand cooperation without serious confrontation will test the political wisdom of both sides. This requires the two countries to transcend simple diplomatic rhetoric and engage in substantive dialogue and cooperation.