Competition or cooperation? New US envoy should ‘ help avoid confrontation’
US President Joe Biden has yet to appoint a new ambassador to China, but the US State Department said that the new ambassador's job is to “steward an approach to China that has competition at the center.”
At a press briefing on Tuesday, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that “Our ambassador will be responsible for helping to steward an approach to China that has competition at the center,” but he didn't say who will be appointed to the job and when would be announced.
Chinese experts said that an ambassador normally should work on cooperation and exchanges, to build a bridge for the two peoples and governments, to fix damaged ties, to reduce mistrust and miscalculations. But the US State Department is still highlighting “competition,” so this could mean that the recovery of China- US ties won't be very easy.
Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Thursday that “whether we like it or not, the competition will become the mainstream of bilateral ties. The atmosphere in the US Congress, society and media makes it impossible for the Biden administration to say too many nice words about China.”
Lü Xiang, an expert in US studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, told the Global Times on Thursday that “competition” is an acceptable word, and China also has confidence in dealing with it.
Lü said that the new ambassador would need to engage with the Chinese government and communicate with relevant groups in the US involved in the competition “to help the two sides "make the rules of the game together,” rather than force China to accept the rules unilaterally made by the US or with its allies.
Lü added that the rules should be accepted by not just China and the US but also other members of the international community.
Without the rules being accepted by all participants of the game, the competition would become another confrontation with lose- lose consequences, Li noted.