US-China ties haunted by lack of mutual trust, Beijing Xiangshan Forum told

A lack of mutual trust and confidence haunts Sino-US relations, a major security conference in Beijing heard, just a week before Xi Jinping travels to America for his first state visit in over a decade.

“When we have the agreement on this constructive strategic stability, we don’t have the illusion that things will be easy going ahead. There are always problems, sometimes very big problems,” said Cui Tiankai, a former Chinese ambassador to Washington, at a panel of the Xiangshan Forum on Tuesday.

Cui praised the stability in bilateral ties since Xi received US President Donald Trump in May, including regular exchanges in diplomacy, economics, the military and law enforcement.

“I expect things will remain the same in the next few months,” he said.