Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on Global Issues

The United States and China are the two largest economies in the world—and the China-U.S. relationship is the world's most important bilateral relationship of this century. Although the two countries are experiencing a bumpy time in the light of simmering conflicts on territorial disputes and human rights issues, the United States and China share mutual interests in geopolitics, economy, and security, especially in counterterrorism.  Both countries have the same goal of achieving world peace and prosperity, and they have been fighting for it in different parts of the world.

International terrorism is the major issue that is prevailing all over the world. China has rising responsibilities as it has grown to the world’s second largest economy. The United States made counterterrorism a top policy priority in the wake of the 9/11 attack and has announced counterterrorism wars in target countries. Whether the counterterrorism strategy is failing or not is still an open question. The continuing effort made by China is showed in the newly-published “Counterterrorism Law of the People's Republic of China” in 2016, which provides a good opportunity for China and the United States to deal with terrorism together.

This new counterterrorism legislation in China regulated the establishment of a national counterterrorism intelligence center and a mechanism for cross-departmental information sharing. The national counterterrorism intelligence center will share the same mission as the National Counterterrorism Center in the United States. 

From the perspective of the China-U.S. bilateral relationship, several actions can be taken based on the national counterterrorism intelligence centers.  The two sides should strengthen mutual trust and share counterterrorism information. First, they should establish a worldwide counterterrorism case database similar to what is done in a case law library. Information would be sent to the case database as soon as it is obtained. And analysts can make a plan and find the solution quickly using the database to research historical cases and programs. Second, they should provide a platform for discussion and communication of counterterrorism lessons. Terrible tragedies also deliver lessons, and the study of examples helps governments combat terrorism and prevent the repeat of the tragedies. Third, they should create a special joint force to fight the terrorists. A joint Sino-U.S. counterterrorism training program would be established to train equal numbers of professional soldiers from China and the United States, who would be afforded certificates after graduation. The training program can be held alternate years in China and the United States. The special force would be created from these special trained soldiers, which are combination of Chinese soldiers and American soldiers.

As for the perspective of international counterterrorism cooperation, China and the United States need to forge a new strategic partnership to combat terrorism in Africa. In 2015, when a rising number of refugees and migrants made the journey to the European Union to seek asylum, mainly because of the continuing conflict in Syria, terrorism began spreading from North Africa to Europe. And there were notorious attacks in Paris, Brussels, and Nice, as we all know.

Europe provides the refugees with food and accommodation because of humanitarian policies. China and the United States should help Africa fight against the terrorism for the same reason. Solutions includes holding combined Sino-U.S. case databases concerning the terrorism issues in Africa and offering military aid to Africa. China and the United States both accept the responsibilities of being large and powerful economies and have a history of supporting development in African countries.  Terrorism will be deterred as long as China and the United States establish a counterterrorism partnership in Africa. And this counterterrorism power is going to be significant in the future of Africa.

The twenty-first century brings us to a new stage where human have never been before, but many people still live under the shadow of terrorism. International terrorism has become a major concern to be eradicated in this century. Every individual should realize their roles in society and remember no one will survive if he or she just wants to be an onlooker. I strongly believe that Chinese people and American people wish the two countries would cooperate in counterterrorism and create world peace together.  China and the United States will lead the effort and and other countries will join.  If all countries join their hands against terrorism, the long-lasting world peace will arrive as soon as can be reasonably expected. That is how China and the United States can work together to benefit the global community.

Yuwen Long is a junior at Shandong University in China with double majors in law and English.

COMMENT FROM CALEB HUFFMAN (November 21, 2016):

Yuwen, You provide many concrete suggestions for potential U.S.-China joint efforts to fight terrorism. I support the idea for a worldwide database, a platform for discussion and counterterrorism lessons, and a special U.S.-China task force.

I propose a different approach to fighting terrorism in Africa, however. Although providing military aid and brunt force to assist the extermination of terrorism is a tempting option, it is not practical. Terrorism is a malleable foe, weakly defined, appearing sporadic and random in its rise. Brunt force is meant for clearly defined targets. The United States has learned this lesson the hard (and very expensive) way in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Instead, a China-U.S. partnership should aid the creation of stable governments in Africa. Rule of law is an effective deterrent of terrorism. It will also improve the economies of African nations, therefore mitigating poverty and the European migration crisis.