The Chinese ambassador to the United States says Beijing and Washington must avoid being too suspicious of each other’s strategic intentions.
“There are people here in the United States who believe that everything that China does is aimed at challenging the United States’ global dominance, and there are people who believe that everything the US is doing is aimed at containing China. I think both views are wrong,” said Cui Tiankai, the Chinese envoy to the US, on Wednesday.
He was speaking at a film screening to commemorate the 1979 normalization of US-China relations.
In January 1979, Washington transferred diplomatic recognition from Taipei, Taiwan, to Beijing, acknowledging that Taiwan is part of China. Two months later, the two countries formally established embassies in each other’s capitals.
Cui pointed to the presidential election in the US, which saw business tycoon Donald Trump surf voter discontent to the White House after a heated campaign, and said that, after “a most unusual political season,” it was high time China and the US built consensus and identified common ground.
Trump, who has no background in diplomacy or governance, had repeatedly said during his campaign that he would rein in China politically and economically if elected. He famously said he would levy 45-percent tariffs on imported Chinese goods and to label Beijing a currency manipulator on his first day in the White House as president.
He also vowed to boost the US Navy in an apparent move to reassure China’s rivals in the disputed South China Sea and the East China Sea, which are worried about Beijing’s territorial claims in the region.
Cui, however, expressed hope that despite inevitable challenges in mutual relations in the next four years, ties would move forward “on a stable and right track.”
He said both China and the US had a common responsibility to cooperate on such issues as terrorism and confronting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
“We both want stability in the world. We both strive for a stronger global economy, and we both need a better natural environment. Common goals call for a close partnership,” he said.
Cui’s remarks came two days after Chinese President Xi Jinping exchanged views with Trump in a phone conversation, urging him to pursue cooperation as the only means to maintain bilateral relations between the world’s two largest economies.
Xi said the two sides needed to make efforts toward boosting China-US relations and promoting the two countries’ economic development and global economic growth.
According to China Central Television (CCTV), the two leaders agreed to maintain close communications with one another and meet up soon.
Relations between the two economic heavyweights have generally been stable, though there have been some periods of open conflict, most notably during the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
Tensions between them have recently escalated, however, in the wake of Washington’s increased military involvement in Asia as part of President Barack Obama’s “pivot” to the region. Obama has said no region is more important to Washington’s long-term interests than Asia. Political observers believe the “pivot” was aimed at checking China’s rise in Asia.
The US has also carried out navigation operations near islands built by Beijing in the South China Sea.
