Action urged to fix broken China-US ties
FM calls on Washington to embrace dialogue, halt trade curbs, interference
Beijing and Washington should respect each other, boost dialogue and manage differences, restart winwin cooperation and clear a path for resuming bilateral exchanges to bring China-US ties back on track, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.
Wang made the remark when addressing veteran officials, scholars and prominent figures from both countries at the Lanting Forum in Beijing on Feb 22.
His speech at the Foreign Ministry-sponsored forum included a fourpoint proposal for bringing China-US relations out of their lowest point in recent decades.
Recalling then US national security adviser Henry Kissinger’s icebreaking visit to China 50 years ago, Wang said China and the US should “make once again the sensible and right decision” with a sense of responsibility for the two countries and the world.
He said it is important to respect each other and not interfere in each other’s internal affairs.
In particular, he said that China urges the US to stop smearing the Communist Party of China and China’s political system, stop conniving in or even supporting the erroneous words and deeds of separatist forces for “Taiwan independence” and stop undermining China’s sovereignty and security on internal affairs concerning Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet.
Wang also said both nations should step up dialogue, properly manage differences and move in the same direction to restart mutually beneficial cooperation.
“We hope that the US side will adjust its policies as soon as possible, among others, remove unreasonable tariffs on Chinese goods, lift its unilateral sanctions on Chinese companies and research and educational institutes, and abandon irrational suppression of China’s technological progress, so as to create necessary conditions for China-US cooperation,” Wang said.
Speaking on clearing the path for the resumption of bilateral exchanges in all areas, Wang said he hoped the US would “act as early as possible to lift its restrictions on Chinese educational and cultural groups, media outlets and institutions for overseas Chinese affairs in the US”.
At the forum, Kevin Rudd, president and CEO of the Asia Society and former Australian prime minister, said via video link that Beijing and Washington should work on reducing the risk of their competition running into conflicts, and that hard limits are needed to manage the escalation of competition. He also called for continued strategic cooperation on global challenges including climate change and economic recovery.
Henry Paulson, a former US treasury secretary, told the forum via video link that US-China relations are the most important bilateral ties in the world, and both sides should minimize and mitigate conflicts. He expressed concern over decoupling between the two countries and said they can move forward on global issues such as climate change.
Hao Ping, president of Peking University, said he hoped that universities in the two countries can develop new forms of cooperation and deepen their long-standing friendship.
During his speech, Wang stressed that “the walls of misperceptions must be torn down first” to clear the way for knowing, observing and understanding China as it is.
Cui Tiankai, Chinese ambassador to the US, said both countries “need to have an accurate understanding of each other’s strategic intentions” and “have a real knowledge and respect of each other’s history, culture and development path”. He also said via video link that he hoped the US will “live up to the principle that all countries ‘are created equal’, and learn to peacefully coexist with those who have a different history, culture, development path and system.”