On April 20, 2006, President Hu Jintao visited Washington DC for the first time since he served as the president of the People’s Republic of China in 2003. Though China held high expectations, the outcome of the Bush-Hu summit disappointed Beijing since it did not achieve any major breakthrough in a host of issues between China and the United States. However, some positive sign did emerge from the summit, particularly President Bush’s call for China to take on the role of a “responsible stakeholder” in the international system. From a strategic perspective, the “responsible stakeholder” concept shows Washington’s willingness to welcome China’s peacefulrise and Beijing’s positive role in a multilateral mechanism as it embraces liberal internationalism. This paper argues that the concept of “responsible stakeholder” shows the willingness of the United States to accommodate China’s peacefulrise. In order to maintain a more stable and liberal international environment, China opted to accept U.S. hegemonic role in the global order instead of hedging against it. Thus, although both countries are unable to develop a full or normal strategic partnership in the near future, Washington and Beijing are expected to broaden their cooperation in areas such as regional or global issues to foster a more secure and stable strategic environment. But in themeantime, respective differences may continue to exist, especially in areas pertaining to trade imbalances and human rights although overall, the cooperation would help build a healthier and more constructive relationship.
