US, China interdependent, say ex-envoys

Three former US ambassadors to China described the current United States-China relationship as unsatisfactory, unsettling and complicated, but said the two countries are interdependent, and wiser policy decisions and diplomacy would help fix relations and benefit the world.

J. Stapleton Roy, who was ambassador from 1991-95, Gary Locke, who served from 2011-14, and Terry Branstad, from 201720, shared their experiences, insights and expectations on US-China relations on May 6 at a panel discussion in Washington, DC.

The event was hosted by the Committee of 100, a nonpartisan organization of prominent Chinese Americans in business, government, academia and the arts.

Roy said the current confrontational stance between the US and China does not serve the interests of either country. He said there are two “key elements” of US policy toward China: “The first is the one-China policy and the second is the insistence that every issue be resolved peacefully.

Locke warned about serious consequences that would result from US-China confrontation or the decoupling of the two economies.

Branstad said, “There are big contradictions, but the fact is, even despite that, there is interdependency.”