The United States and China relations are perhaps the most important set of relations which touches on an extensive range of issues from security, trade and economic issues to the environment and human rights. In the past years, due to the Asia-Pacific region's increased financial and strategic weight, the US has sought to bring its global diplomatic, economic and military resource commitments into balance with expanding regional interests. The US pivot to Asia-Pacific is a comprehensive approach that involves all the tools of national power to reassure its allies and partners and devotes more attention to multilateral and conventional security-based strategic initiatives. On the other hand, the US sees its relations with China the most powerful rival and competitor in the region as pivotal. Their strategic interests in Asia-Pacific converge and diverge and as the US begins to contemplate China as a latent adversary, such divergence will become even more conspicuous. This study aims to identify the similar challenge posed to both the US and China of seeking broad international space to advance their interests and relations while carefully relating itself to the evolving strategic environment of Asia-Pacific.