By Charges d’Affaires Li Nan of the Chinese Embassy
The China-US relations are among the most important bilateral relationships in the world. To safeguard and stabilize China-US relations concerns the welfare of the Chinese and American people, and bears on peace, stability and development in the world. President Xi Jinping pointed out, back in 2014, that past and current experiences show that China and the US stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation.
China-US cooperation has always been conducted for mutual benefit. It has never been a case of one party giving f to the other, or one party taking advantage of the other. Both countries have benefited much from this cooperation, and no one is being taken advantage of or being ripped off.
For the past 41 years, the volume of trade between China and the US has increased more than 200 times over the early days of diplomatic ties, and two-way investment has taken off from scratch to reach nearly US$240 billion. The exchange of visits between the Chinese and American people jumped from several thousand to over five million per year. More than 400 000 Chinese students are studying in the US. Fifty pairs of sister provinces/states and 227 pairs of sister cities have been forged between the two sides. China-US business ties support 2.6 million American jobs. Trade with China helps each American family save US$850 every year. Over 70 000 American businesses have an investment in China with a total sales volume of US$700 billion.
In the face of common challenges such as the Covid-19 pandemic, China and the US, as major countries, shall work to expand cooperation, jointly promote the construction of a new type of international relations, build a community with a shared future for mankind, and undertake due responsibilities for this world.
Regrettably, the US Administration has chosen unilaterally to be provocative. The erroneous words and moves by the US administration constituted interference in China’s internal affairs. They undermined China’s interests and seriously disrupted China-US relations, putting the relationship in a most complex and grave situation since the establishment of diplomatic ties.
The US has imposed additional trade tariffs on China’s products, launched a global campaign against a private Chinese company Huawei, initiated the so-called “Clean Network” program to exclude Chinese companies, started the delisting procedures for Chinese companies listed in the US, and signed an administrative order to ban Chinese APP such as WeChat and TikTok, which are to deprive China of its legitimate development rights.
The US sold weapons to the Taiwan region, sent senior officials to visit the Taiwan region, blatantly intervened in disputes over territorial sovereignty in the South China Sea, increased and flaunted its military presence in the South China Sea, introduced laws involving Xinjiang and Hong Kong, announced sanctions on the government officials of the mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, which harmed China’s sovereignty and national security.
The spectre of "McCarthyism" is being revived in the US. Anti-China forces abused the concept of "national security", arbitrarily harassed and arrested Chinese students, stoked hostility between the two peoples, and suddenly forced China to close the Chinese Consulate General in Houston within a short time, deliberately obstructing normal China-US exchanges.
At the critical moment of the global response to Covid-19, the US went so far as to groundlessly attack and withdraw from the World Health Organization, politicized and stigmatized the virus and scapegoated China, completely broke through the moral bottom line of international relations, and made itself the biggest destroyer of the current international order.
The US has hyped up the theory of so-called "debt trap", "strategic asset takeover", and "neocolonialism" in Africa, and pressured Africa not to cooperate with China in areas such as 5G, in an attempt to drive a wedge between China and Africa, maintain economic control over Africa and undermine China-Africa cooperation.
Recently, some US politicians have fabricated various fallacies to make fierce attacks on the Communist Party of China (CPC) and China’s political system, deliberately distorted and denied the history of China-US relations in the past 50 years, artificially created the so-called “new cold war” and organized the so-called “New Alliance of Democracy”. The US even forced other countries to take sides for its anti-China policy and tried to deceive the American people and international public opinion with lies.
The above-mentioned actions of the US are regressive moves. China has never thought of ruling the world, but actively strives to benefit the world. China's development is not to seek hegemony or expansionism, but to let the people live a better life. China's active participation in global governance is not to replace anyone but to play its due role as a major country.
Facts have proved that China has never taken the initiative to challenge US interests. Instead, the US has repeatedly provoked troubles and recklessly suppressed and contained China, repeatedly encroaching upon China's bottom line. The US is the initiator of the destruction of China-US relations, and it must bear full responsibility for the tensions between the two countries. The actions of the US side are incompatible with the trend of the times and run counter to the aspirations of most countries. Of course, they are unpopular, and few have echoed a response.
As two big countries with different social systems, histories and cultures, it is normal for China and the US have their interests and concerns. It is unnecessary and impossible for one to change the other, but both shall respect the independent choices made by the other's people. For the US, the fundamental question is whether they are ready or willing to coexist peacefully with another country with a different cultural background, political and economic system, and cooperate to respond to numerous and still increasing global challenges.
The healthy and stable development of China-US relations bears on the present and future of China, the US and the world, and conforms to the common aspirations of the peoples of China, the US and all countries in the world. Today, when the Covid-19 pandemic is raging, we must not allow a small group of American politicians to drive China-US relations into a very dangerous situation for their interests. China will be unswervingly committed to the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, will firmly safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests, and is willing to develop a China-US relationship featuring no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation based on coordination, cooperation and stability.
Faced with the most complex situation since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1979, as State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, we need to put in place a clear-cut framework for the relationship for the future.
First, steer clear of red lines and avoid confrontation. For China-US relations to develop soundly, the most critical thing is mutual respect. China never intends to and will never interfere in US elections or other US internal affairs. Likewise, the US must abandon its fantasy of remodelling China to US needs. It must stop its meddling in China's internal affairs, and stop its irrational cracking down on China's legitimate rights and interests.
Second, keep the channels open for candid dialogue. Dialogue is the prerequisite for addressing problems. Without dialogue, problems will only pile up and even get out of control. China is willing, in the spirit of equality and open-mindedness, to talk and interact with the US, and resume dialogue mechanisms at all levels and in all fields, and determine the road map for the next step of communication.
Third, reject decoupling and uphold cooperation. The interests of the two countries are deeply entwined. Forced decoupling will inflict a lasting impact on bilateral relations, and endanger the security of international industrial chains and interests of all countries. With Covid-19 still raging across the world, China is prepared to have mutually beneficial cooperation with the US on pandemic control and economic recovery, learn from each other and share experience on containing Covid-19, and join together with the US the global response and multilateral cooperation in fighting Covid-19.
Fourth, abandon the zero-sum mentality and stand up to shared responsibilities. Our world still faces many global challenges. Traditional and non-traditional security challenges are intertwined. Almost all regional and international hotspot issues require a coordinated response from China, the US and other countries. China and the US must always bear in mind the well-being of mankind, live up to their responsibilities as two major countries, coordinate and cooperate as needed in the UN and other multilateral institutions, and work together for world peace and stability.
To safeguard and stabilize China-US relations is the call of the people and the trend of the times. We urge US decision-makers to respect facts of history, recognize the trend of the times, heed the visionary calls in the US, and listen to the voice of the international community. We urge them to redress mistakes and change course and meet China halfway. At the same time, we also hope to get the support of all parties including Africa to jointly promote the establishment of a coordinated, cooperative and stable China-US relationship for the benefit of the world.
* The views expressed here are not necessarily those of IOL.