Chinese envoy decries paranoia

At McLarty fete, he urges ‘reason’

WASHINGTON — The world doesn’t need a second Cold War, Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai said this week.

In the midst of a trade war, he denounced paranoia peddlers, calling on the United States and China to work together.

“There are people who are trying very hard, people even in high political and government places, they’re trying very hard to spread suspicion and fear,” he said Wednesday night. “There are also people who are trying very hard to sell conspiracy theories. I think, more than ever before, we need clear and strong voice[s] of reason.”

Beijing’s top envoy made the comments during a reception at the Metropolitan Club hosted by McLarty Associates.

Hope native Mack McLarty’s diplomatic consulting firm, Cui said, has provided “vision and reason” over the years, helping to promote “understanding and diplomacy among countries, especially between China and the United States.”

McLarty Associates opened its China office in 2009; it’ll mark its 10th anniversary later this year.

As White House chief of staff, McLarty helped to organize the first meeting between former President Bill Clinton and former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, in 1993 in Seattle.

“I’d like to look back and think that set a good foundation for relations that we’ve built on over the years,” McLarty told the crowd.

The U.S.-China relationship is “critical, not only to our two countries, but to the world more broadly,” he said.

As a candidate, President Donald Trump was highly critical of China, accusing the country of unfair trade practices and branding it an economic enemy.

As president, he levied a number of tariffs against Chinese products; China has responded with tariffs of its own.

But Trump also has portrayed Chinese government officials as shrewd negotiators, arguing that they’ve simply

outsmarted their American counterparts. And he’s spoken positively about China’s president, Xi Jinping.

“I like China and I like President Xi a lot,” he told reporters in September.

Plans for additional tariff increases on a number of Chinese items are being shelved, at least temporarily. Wednesday, the U.S.’ top trade official, Robert Lighthizer, raised the possibility that a deal could be reached soon.

“We are making real progress,” he told the House Ways and Means Committee.

With 1.4 billion people and a fast-growing economy — the world’s second-largest — China has become an economic powerhouse.

Former U.S. Trade Representative Carla Hills, who attended Wednesday’s event, expressed hope that the trade war won’t drag on.

“I think it’s absolutely vital that the two largest economies work together,” she said, adding. “I think there’s an opportunity to work together and to

have a win-win situation.”

Asked if the standoff will end, McLarty Associates senior director Jorge Guajardo sounded hopeful.

“My money would be on yes because I think both sides want it enough,” the former Mexican ambassador to China said. “I’m not sure it’ll be a great trade agreement, but I think there will be a trade agreement.”

Economic problems in the Asian nation would have ripple effects around the globe, he said.

“A lot depends on … China’s economy,” he said. “If it falters, the world falters.”

During his remarks, Cui mentioned past presidents who have worked to strengthen Sino-American relations, including Clinton and Richard Nixon.

Shortly before his death in 1994, Nixon wrote a book titled

Beyond Peace, Cui recalled. In it, Cui said, the 37th president recounted approvingly the words of former French President Charles de Gaulle: “France is never her true self except when she is engaged in

a great enterprise.”

Nixon thought the same principle applied to the United States.

“President Nixon believed that in order to keep America great, America needs to find a mission beyond peace. I think that he was right,” Cui said.

“This great mission cannot be a return to the Cold War. It cannot be a return to the traditional rivalry among the major powers in the 19th or 20th century. It has to be based on the full recognition of the new realities of the 21st century,” Cui said. “We have to work together to build a shared vision, a shared community for our two countries and for the world community.”

In an interview afterward, McLarty referred to China as “our most important strategic relationship.”

“We clearly will have our differences. There’s no question about that,” he said. “But it’s essential that we work towards achieving common ground and I believe we can do that.”