Prominent intellectuals including children of veteran leaders have called for review and change in Beijing's policies towards the US, while stopping short of directly criticising existing policies. Zhang Musheng, the son of a senior State Council official and himself a retired government official and prominent intellectual, said in an interview that “China has become too headstrong in the past few years and failed to recognise the immense gaps between China and the United States on many fronts.” Li Ruogu, a former Vice President of China’s central bank, said Beijing needed to understand more of America’s thinking and adjust its policies to maintain the relationship. “The China-US relationship is the cornerstone of our country’s overall relationship with the Western world,” he said at a forum earlier this year. “If we cannot manage this well, it will affect our ties with other developed countries. This is something we need to think about carefully." He added that a full-on confrontation would affect China’s future development. His views are shared by other liberal thinkers, including Hu Deping, son of former reformist leader Hu Yaobang.
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