China and the US should keep their eyes on "vital stakes" rather than "conflicts" to seek a bright future for bilateral relations, a former senior US official said yesterday in Beijing.

Predictions of inevitable conflict as Beijing's rise collides with American dominance can become self-fulfilling prophecies, said James A. Baker, US secretary of state under president George H.W. Bush from 1989 to 1992.

"For American policy-makers to view any expansion of China's role in world affairs as somehow 'sinister' will only produce misunderstanding and mistrust that would complicate the Sino-American relationship," Baker said when delivering a speech to the US-China Business Council.

"Such an analysis seriously underestimates the broad areas - economic and strategic - where Chinese and American interests converge," Baker said.

Issues where Chinese and American interests converge extend well beyond trade and investment; they also include energy, security in Northeast Asia and climate change, according to Baker.

"Should Washington and Beijing slip into confrontation, everybody will lose - and not just the people of China and the United States," he said.

"The consequences in terms of instability would be felt throughout Asia and on a truly global level. It would be nothing less than tragic were the world, after emerging from one Cold War, plunge into another."

Baker suggested managing bilateral relations will also demand firm and courageous political leadership on both sides of the Pacific.

"Leaders in Washington and Beijing must be prepared to confront powerful domestic constituencies as they seek to keep bilateral relations on an even keel. And they must be willing, in crises, to mute their rhetoric, sustain a dialogue, and seek compromise."

Baker is on a China visit in the capacity of a senior partner at Baker Botts LLP, an international law firm headquartered in the US.

(China Daily September 14, 2007)