The Chinese foreign minister on Wednesday urged the US to work with Beijing in addressing the “root cause” of bilateral tensions to lay a solid foundation for a “stable” and “constructive” relationship between the two major powers.

Wang Yi made the remarks during a meeting with Graham Allison, a professor at Harvard University, in Beijing, said a statement from the Foreign Ministry.

Only by correctly fastening the “first button” of China-US relations, Wang observed, can pave the way for the two economic and military giants to a “sound” and “stable” partnership.

In the current era, he added, China and the US must develop a new narrative that can guide their future interactions and define a constructive framework for engagement between the two countries.

Reiterating Chinese President Xi Jinping’s three principles – mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation – he said they can serve as Beijing’s fundamental approach in handling its relations with Washington.

The Chinese philosophy of “harmony without uniformity” reflects an Eastern tradition of embracing diversity while seeking common ground, he said.

While, in contrast, he went on to say, the Western tendency toward zero-sum thinking often assumes one side’s gain must come at the other’s expense.

Allison, for his part, opined that the Chinese concept of “harmony without uniformity” shares similarities with the American tradition of embracing diversity.

Calling for the establishment of a new principle-based framework for US-China relations, with mutual respect at its core, he pledged to continue supporting communication and the steady development of bilateral ties.