Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/u-s-china-explore-deeper-ties-as-partners-contenders Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Jim Lehrer speaks with a panel of China experts about the political and economic implications of U.S.-China relations. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. JIM LEHRER: That follows take two on China, a big-picture — big-picture look at its relationship with the United States.That comes from James Fallows of Atlantic magazine, who recently returned from living in China, Minxin Pei, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College in California. He's been analyzing China for us at the NewsHour since the days of Tiananmen Square. And Niall Ferguson, an author and professor of government at Harvard University — his most recent book is "The Ascent of Money."Jim Fallows first.Should China be seen as a friend or an enemy of the United States? JAMES FALLOWS: Well, probably neither of those directly. It's both an important partner for the U.S. in countless ways.We — as we heard President Obama saying, on climate issues and environmental issues, if the China and U.S. don't work together, it really is going to be difficult for anybody else to do anything. During the financial crisis, it was crucial for China to work with Western countries as well.But there are differences of political values and perhaps strategic interests. So, it is a partner and also, you know, a contender in various ways. And I think the challenge over the last 30 years and for years to come is to keep both of those aspects in mind at the same time. JIM LEHRER: Mr. Pei, would you agree with Jim Fallows, a contender and a partner? MINXIN PEI, Claremont McKenna College: Oh, Yes, but — except I would the word "limited" before partner, because China can be a partner, but China has its own interests.And it is not going to let the U.S. dictate what China's interests are. As a result, if you look at where China — what China is doing, where China can be helpful, China always puts its own national interests ahead of American concerns.So, the U.S. can be disappointed if it places too much hope on China being helpful. JIM LEHRER: Professor Ferguson, how would — what terms would you use?NIALL FERGUSON, author, "The Ascent of Money": Well, I rather like the word "frenemy," because… JIM LEHRER: Frenemy?