Mutual respect urged in China-US ties
Senior diplomat says bilateral relations should be based on working together
The United States does not have the qualification to be “condescending” when speaking to China as the Chinese people will never accept this, and the US should work together with China and avoid confrontation, senior diplomat Yang Jiechi said.
Mutual respect is a basis for dealing with China, said Yang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, at the bilateral high-level strategic dialogue in Anchorage, Alaska, on Thursday (local time).
The opening of the dialogue, covered by media from the two countries, witnessed a rare exchange of harsh remarks between the two sides.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan made unreasonable attacks on China’s domestic and foreign policies, including human rights and issues related to the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
In response, Yang said that history will prove that any attempt to suppress and contain China “will backfire in the end”.
The US has yet to deal with its own human rights and other problems, and should stop finger-pointing over China’s human rights and democracy, Yang said.
“I don’t think the overwhelming majority of countries in the world would recognize the universal values advocated by the US or that the viewpoint of the US could represent international public opinion,” he added.
Confrontation with China does not serve the US well, while the two countries have achieved a lot together since they established diplomatic relations, Yang said, and urged Washington to ramp up communication and tackle differences.
Sitting next to Yang, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi followed up and rebutted Blinken and Sullivan’s claims that China engages in “military coercion” with regard to US allies.
Washington should figure out if these claims were real and direct complaints from US allies, or are they just part of the US’ own view, Wang said.
If the US indiscriminately believes those countries just because they are allies and even speaks up for their wrong words and deeds, then it will be very difficult for international relations to develop properly, Wang said.
“Who is coercing whom? I think history and the international community will come to their own conclusions,” he added.
Prior to the Chinese delegation’s departure for Alaska, Washington
updated its sanctions regarding Hong Kong earlier this week.
“This is not supposed to be the way to treat guests,” Wang said, adding that this is a “sheer miscalculation and only reflects vulnerability and weakness inside the US” if it attempts to gain some advantage in dealing with China.
The international community is closely following the dialogue and is watching whether the two countries will demonstrate goodwill, sincerity and send out a positive signal to the world, Wang added.
An official with the Chinese delegation told reporters on the sidelines that the US attacks at the opening of the dialogue mark an attempt to spur conflict, and this is “not in line with diplomatic etiquette and protocols”.
Responding to the US invitation, the Chinese delegation traveled to Anchorage with sincerity and finished preparations for the dialogue in accordance with the procedures and arrangements that were agreed in advance by the two sides, the unnamed official said.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said it was the US side that picked the fight, leading to the dramatic exchange of strong words at the opening of the dialogue, which Beijing did not expect in the first place.
“We hope that the US side can move toward the same goal with China, honor the spirit of the phone conversation (last month) between the two heads of state, focus on cooperation, manage and control differences, and promote the healthy and stable development of China-US relations,” Zhao said at a daily news conference in Beijing on Friday.