China-US relations are at the most difficult period since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Certain politicians in the US have been bombarding the international community with various fallacies about China and deliberately distorting and completely denying the history of China-US relations during the past nearly 50 years, trying their best to attack the Communist Party of China (CPC) and China’s political system, with ulterior motives.
The US side’s misconceptions about China and China-US relations as well as its spiteful remarks and misdeeds might further aggravate the bilateral relations between the two countries.
In the history of China-US relations, strategic miscalculations have had serious consequences. However, more often than not, the two sides have managed to prevent the situation from getting worse through wise and rational actions.
The first thing the two sides should keep in mind is that they need to keep communication channels open.
Communication between countries was rather difficult during the Cold War, when China and the US could only communicate with each other with the help of a third party or through various indirect ways.
In the harsh conditions of the Cold War around the 1950s and the 1960s, China and the US maintained the communication channel of ambassador talks, which played an important role in solving some issues.
At present, China and the US are in sore need of new dialogue.
The Chinese side has made it clear that China’s door to dialogue remains open and that it is willing to resume dialogue mechanisms at all levels and in all fields at any time.
There might be disagreements during dialogue. However, what really matters is that the two sides can talk with each other in good faith.
Empty shouts and finger-pointing will not solve any problem, but can trigger new misunderstanding instead.
China and the US should maintain a rational and objective attitude toward each other and base judgment on facts rather than ideological bias.
Given the complex bilateral relations and international situation at the moment, it’s not easy for the two sides to stay calm and objective, yet it’s not impossible.
The ideological differences between China and the US stopped neither the Nixon administration from adjusting its policy towards China nor prevented the Carter administration from normalizing bilateral relations with China.
Today, the two sides should continue to take a rational and objective attitude toward fundamental issues such as the international order and global governance, and try to avoid relating any problem in their bilateral relations to ideology.   
The two sides should leave some leeway for each other and make reasonable decisions on bilateral relations.
During the past 41 years since the establishment of the diplomatic ties between China and the US, the two countries have witnessed twists and turns and even major setbacks in their bilateral ties.
It was their efforts to cope with differences and disagreements and properly handle sensitive issues from a historical perspective and with a holistic view that helped the two sides maintain their overall stable development of bilateral relations.
As facts have shown, there are never problems between China and the US that can’t be solved as long as the two sides can truly respect each other, treat each other as equals, seek common ground while setting differences to the side, and keep in mind their responsibility for history and their people.
China and the US should always adhere to the right direction for the bilateral relations and pursue the common interests of the two countries.
China and the US have accumulated rich experience in handling disagreements as bilateral relations weathered various obstacles and ups and downs over the past five decades.
The current international situation and China-US relations are different than they have ever been in history. China and the US need to cope with the problems they are confronted with more wisely than ever.
As China has reiterated on many occasions, cooperation serves the interests of the two countries, while conflict can only hurt both.
China and the US should draw some lessons from the past experience and spare no effort to bring bilateral relations back to the track of stable development with a new starting point.