Joint efforts urged to mend ties
Foreign minister stresses door for dialogue between Beijing, Washington always open
China and the United States should work together to seek a resumption of dialogue, put bilateral ties back on track and rebuild mutual trust in the next phase, and Beijing expects and believes that Washington’s China policy will regain objectivity and rationality sooner or later, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.
Wang made the remark in a videoconference on Dec 7 with board members of the US-China Business Council, which includes executives of some leading US businesses such as General Motors, FedEx, Visa and Qualcomm.
The top priority for both sides is to rule out various disturbances and resistance, and to achieve a smooth transition for China-US ties, Wang said when noting the serious difficulties clouding the relations in recent years.
The bilateral relationship is at a critical historical juncture, Wang said, and he mentioned President Xi Jinping’s recent congratulatory message to US President-elect Joe Biden, which highlighted the significance of promoting the healthy and stable growth of ties.
The root problem of the relations’ serious situation is that some people in the US cannot break from an outdated Cold War mentality and ideological prejudice, meaning they view China’s development and China-US relations as part of a zero-sum game, he said.
Such people regard China as a rival or even an enemy, and they attack the system and path chosen by the Chinese people, attempt to contain China in every way, and even agitate for “decoupling” and a “new cold war”,
which is a mistake in terms of history, direction and strategy, Wang added.
China has always adhered to peaceful development, he said. It is determined to embark on a path of revitalization that features win-win cooperation with other countries, and this is why it expects and believes that US policy toward China will shift back to objectivity and rationality sooner or later, he added.
Wang said the door for dialogue is always open. Beijing and Washington should begin to have talks at all levels, with the ability to put any issue on
the table, whether it be a strategic, an overall or a long-term one, or a need to discuss a specific issue, so as to seek breakthroughs and solutions and build trust, Wang said.
In view of possible bilateral cooperation in the next stage, Wang named three promising areas: the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, economic recovery and climate change.
China is ready to further its support for the fight against the virus in the US within its capabilities, and the two sides can strengthen economic
and trade cooperation, restart macroeconomic policy dialogue and coordination, consider resuming negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty, jointly keep the global industrial and supply chains afloat and contribute to the economic recovery of the two countries and the world, Wang said.
Meanwhile, former Washington governor Gary Locke said US governors have to take the lead to reestablish trade missions to China and help reset US-China relations.
Three other former governors joined Locke in an online discussion on Dec 7 on US- China subnational relations, organized by the National Committee on US- China Relations and the US Heartland China Association.
All four recalled their efforts to build successful relationships with China to help create jobs when they were in office. And they took stock of current US-China dynamics, saying subnational exchanges are the best avenue to foster future relations.
Bob Holden, who was the governor of Missouri from 2001 to 2005, is the chairman and CEO of the association. When he was governor, he said he saw a lot of manufacturing jobs leave Missouri for overseas.
Jon Huntsman, the Utah governor from 2005 to 2009 and US ambassador to China during 2009-11, said China is a “very important and centric part of our economic relationship going forward”.
“I made a point to identify and work with China in areas we found mutual benefits where we were able to build bridges to serve the needs of the future,” Huntsman said.
When Rick Snyder was elected governor of Michigan in 2011, the state was suffering economically and lost more jobs than any other state due to the 2008 financial crisis. He also looked to China for job creation.
“Going to China was looked down on originally because, with manufacturing jobs lost, many people blamed China for that. I went to China and that was successful. We built a lot of people relationships, so we became a leader in terms of direct investment coming into our state, creating jobs,” Snyder said.