Yuan, Jing-Dong

Abstract
In recent years Beijing and Washington have maintained close cooperation on issues ranging from the war on terrorsm to dealing with the North Korean nuclear crisis. However, major differences remain over the U.S.-Japan alliance, controversies over missile defenses, the role of nuclear weapons in the bilateral relationship and, until recently, cross-Strait relations. The paper argues that the possibility of nuclear threat reduction between the two countries will depend on two sets of variables. The first is whether the issues in question are merely perceptual or fundamentally irreconcilable structural ones. Better communication and strategic dialogue could help address perceptual misunderstanding. The second refers to the relative importance the two major powers ascribe to the role of nuclear weapons in national security and the use of force (and even nuclear force). Beijing and Washington need to expend greater efforts in arms control, crisis management, and confidence building to address perceptual misunderstanding and most important, to prevent open military conflicts between the two.
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