WITH the advent of 2023, whether China-US relations, one of the most important bilateral ties in the world today, can stabilize after the ups and downs of the past year has drawn worldwide attention. At the beginning of the new year, Chinese Foreign Minister Ambassador Qin Gang held a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, expressing his hope to continue close working relations with Blinken for a better China-US relationship. Since the meeting between the two heads of state in Bali last November, dialogues and engagements between the two sides have ramped up in various fields and at multiple levels, which led many observers to express cautious optimism about the China-US ties getting warmer in 2023.

In the past year, China-US relations reached the brink of danger. On the Taiwan question, Washington's insane 'extreme testing' of China's bottom line, in particular the then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's provocative visit to Taipei, has severely hit the political foundation of China-US relations and worsened the already fragile mutual trust between the two countries. In addition, Washington regards China as the 'top strategic competitor,' constantly stepping up sanctions against Beijing in the economic and trade field, and implementing a 'decoupling' policy in the high-tech industrial chain. These practices have not only impacted China-US bilateral ties but also endangered world peace and stability.