Editor’s Note: The following are excerpts of remarks by Chinese ambassador to the United States Xie Feng, via a video link, at an event held by the US-China Business Council in Shanghai on Thursday to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the establishment of China-US diplomatic relations:
Whether China and the United States can continue working together and combating common challenges bears on the well-being of both countries and the future of humanity. China’s answer is clear and firm. The three principles put forward by President Xi Jinping, mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, sum up the experience of China-US relations over the past decades, and point out the right path for the two countries to get along in the new era.
Mutual respect is a prerequisite. Differences should be an impetus for exchanges and mutual learning, rather than a pretext for exclusion and confrontation. The success of China and the US is an opportunity, not a challenge, for each other. The two sides need to respect each other’s choice of development path and development rights, and respect each other’s core interests and major concerns.
Peaceful coexistence is a baseline. Seeing China as a primary strategic competitor, the most consequential geopolitical challenge and a pacing threat is seriously misguided, and will only lead to a “self-fulfilling prophecy”. The Taiwan question is the first and foremost redline that should not be crossed in the China-US relationship. The one-China principle and the three Sino-US joint communiques should be honored in both word and deed.
Any attempt to encircle, contain or suppress China will be self-defeating. As the world’s largest developing and developed countries, China and the US have every reason to make the list of areas of cooperation longer. A tariff war, trade war, tech war or industrial war will produce no winner.
Win-win cooperation is a worthwhile goal. Beijing welcomes US companies to invest in China, and also looks forward to greater dialogue and cooperation with the US on global challenges such as climate change and artificial intelligence.
The China-US relationship has never been smooth sailing. The historical trend of peaceful coexistence between them will not change, the ultimate wish of the two peoples for exchanges and cooperation will not change, and the expectations of the whole world for stable Sino-US ties will not change.