Sherwood (Woody) D. Goldberg was a former advisor and long-term associate of the late General Alexander M. Haig, Jr., the 59th U.S. Secretary of State. He now works as Senior Advisor for Asian Affairs with the U.S.-based Center for Naval Analysis (WEI YAO)

Shortly before the opening of the China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue, Beijing Review spoke to American political advisor, Sherwood (Woody) D. Goldberg, who characterized Sino-U.S. ties as being much like those of a married couple that are destined to remain partners in spite of their differences. Excepts follow:

Beijing Review: What role do you think the Strategic and Economic Dialogue will play in ensuring the stability of Sino-U.S. relations?

Sherwood (Woody) D. Goldberg: Our two leaders—President Barack Obama and President Xi Jinping—have set the framework, and now the Strategic and Economic Dialogue will get down to the specific issues, including economic and military-to-military cooperation. There's a whole menu of issues. It is—as we Americans would say—where a rubber on an automobile hits the cement. That's where friction can come about. That's where well-meaning people can work out the differences.

Based on your experience dealing with China-U.S. relations, how do you define the present and the future of this relationship?

The relationship that I have experienced has grown from the vision in the early 1970s that these two great peoples could—through diplomatic relationships—become cooperative and perhaps even partners in working together to build a relationship that the world would become dependent upon for peace, stability and prosperity. It is based upon the three joint communiqué—respectively on one China, the normalization of relations and arms sales to Taiwan.

It is as though a young lady falls in love with a young man and two families now will unite through the marriage of a daughter and a son. A human relationship at first is getting to understand. Then it begins to get closer and the two families join together. There are sometimes difficulties in those relationships. But as we saw at the Sunnylands summit, the two presidents are seeking a new great power relationship with the acknowledgement that the United States and China have the desire to work together—not just in the Asia-Pacific region but around the world.

As China continues to grow and open up, there will be new challenges for China and a new responsibility to preserve the international system that has enabled China to become open, stable and prosperous. The United States has had a role in the Pacific region to provide an environment that is stable and peaceful. Now as we get closer, we have to work out complex issues such as the environment, piracy, infectious diseases, nuclear proliferation and, very importantly, greater understanding between our two militaries.

China-U.S. military relations are lagging far behind their political and economic ties. What do you think the reasons are for this and what should be done to enhance military cooperation for the common good?

Firstly, it's getting better. We are opening the lines of communications better. We are developing more personal relationships between our military leaders. But we have to recognize there is a different culture between the United States and China as for openness on sensitive security matters. We have our own security issues as does China, but we need greater transparency.

I don't believe China is by any means an imperialistic nation. It doesn't seek to occupy other countries. It seeks to take its rightful place in the international system following a difficult period in which China's sovereignty was taken away in some cases where there were horrendous human losses during World War II and the fascist period.

We can act through joint performances of the two countries' military bands—it is one small step. We can act through maritime joint ventures, anti-terrorism joint ventures, disaster-relief operations and greater transparency. Also, I would hope to see People's Liberation Army (PLA) cadets studying at West Point and our war colleges, where we really can have solider-to-solider understanding.

The United States certainly wants to be sure that China knows we do not seek to contain China. What we want is a China that is prosperous and stable and takes its rightful place as a contributor to stability, prosperity and peace in the international system. We don't have a reversion to a Cold War situation like what we had with the Soviet Union, which was not good for anyone.