Chinese President Xi Jinping will embark on his first state visit to the US in late September. As the event comes close, the political field, the business sector and the US public have all attached importance to it. However, the atmosphere that US opinion has created for this event is not that favorable. Some politicians have raised their rhetoric in criticizing China and especially emphasized key issues that have dominated Sino-US relations in the past two years.

Most state leaders' visits to the US are not widely reported. But American opinion has been talking about Xi's visit for quite some time. A few Republican presidential candidates have made themselves heard by commenting on this visit, and many mainstream media has made in-depth analysis.

Xi is the most important and eye-catching foreign guest to the US this year. Both the Chinese government and the Obama administration hope this visit will be successful. Some US politicians and media are taking this opportunity to make a display of themselves.

Nowadays, there are people in both countries who hype up the confrontation between the two in order to show their "insight." They have little impact on their leadership, but can dominate domestic populists as an opinion leader.

Against the backdrop of the shift in traditional power, the Sino-US relationship is at a strategically sensitive juncture. One's behavior can easily be interpreted as aggressiveness by the other. US opinion often defines many of China's actions as "aggressive," and the Chinese public believes the US is "containing" China given its rebalancing Asia strategy and its ambiguous stance in the disputes between China and Japan. Such critical beliefs can hardly be eliminated any time soon and may become a hotbed for new frictions.

China and the US face a number of challenges in the future, such as their different understanding of "dominance" in the Asia-Pacific, US concerns about China's military modernization and the impact of China's maritime strategy on the US.

Meanwhile, as China rises, the country's confidence is mounting, but the US is shifting its mentality from that of a "leader" to a "victim."

As complexities between the two are increasing, those attention-seeking American hawks can easily pick a fight with China. A "tipping point" seems to be underway, arousing many pessimistic opinions. But the huge benefits brought by expanding exchanges between the two make them keep a sober mind.

US opinion is hyping the South China Sea issue, the cyber security controversy and a currency war, but those frictions can hardly formulate any real strategic threat. The US government is unlikely to make a hasty strategic readjustment of its China policy.

Negative voices from the US will not hide the recognition and respect that China gets as a world power. When a diplomatic event is about to take place, we can just shrug off the words uttered by some US politicians.