Protesters attend the rally to denounce deploying the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) in front of the Defense Ministry on July 13, 2016 in Seoul, the ROK. [Photo/VCG]

When Tung Chee-hwa, vice-chairman of China's top political advisory body and former Hong Kong chief executive, expressed his concerns on the current state of China-US relations on an international law forum in Hong Kong last month, he was not raising false alarms.

Citing the obvious tensions between Beijing and Washington on the South China Sea, Tung warned the issue, if not handled carefully, will affect China-US relations. A China-US relations expert himself, Tung spoke the minds of many people who wish the world's most important pair of nation-to-nation ties to maintain a healthy momentum.

For China's part, it still hopes to build a new type of major-country relationship with the United States. The center piece of that relationship is based on the Chinese leadership's new vision of international relations, which does not buy into the destined historical model that an emerging power and an established power are bound to clash.

Unfortunately, there has been abundant evidence in recent years to prove the US has a different view. Its strategic rebalancing to Asia is widely perceived as a policy shift that intended to contain China's rise. To that end, it has encouraged countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam to stir up trouble in the South China Sea.

Since last year when the US began its so-called freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea, it has stepped to the forefront in challenging China's maritime territorial rights and interests in the troubled waters.