Brzezinski: redefining the US-PRC relationship

Zbigniew Brezinski, who helped broker Jimmy Carter's normalization of relations with China in 1979, says in the NYT (HT, Robert Jordan) that the upcoming Hu-Obama meeting "should ... yield more than the usual boilerplate professions of mutual esteem" by aiming to redefine the relationship, something "that does justice to the global promise of constructive cooperation between them."

Hmmm.  Great minds think alike.

Why the effort?

The worst outcome for Asia’s long-term stability as well as for the American-Chinese relationship would be a drift into escalating reciprocal demonization. What’s more, the temptations to follow such a course are likely to grow as both countries face difficulties at home.

So show some ambition he says:

For the visit to be more than symbolic, Presidents Obama and Hu should make a serious effort to codify in a joint declaration the historic potential of productive American-Chinese cooperation. They should outline the principles that should guide it. They should declare their commitment to the concept that the American-Chinese partnership should have a wider mission than national self-interest. That partnership should be guided by the moral imperatives of the 21st century’s unprecedented global interdependence. The declaration should set in motion a process for defining common political, economic and social goals. It should acknowledge frankly the reality of some disagreements as well as register a shared determination to seek ways of narrowing the ranges of such disagreements. 

The instinct for the "grand strategy term sheet" is not idealistic--just timely.

Why so hard for the White House to open up its minds on the subject?  See my response to Zenpundit's musings here.