Ups and downs in US-China ties over 41 years prove confrontation is not the solution, says Beijing's envoy
With the tension between the US and China showing no signs of abatement, the Chinese envoy to America has appealed to both sides to reset their relationship. In an article penned for Politico on Thursday, July 30, Ambassador Cui Tiankai said despite the unpleasant developments in the bilateral relationship of the two nations of late, the positive history between them can help them go forward.
The US and China have been at loggerheads over trade before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic soured the relationship more. President Donald Trump and his top aides accused China of allowing the world to suffer the pandemic while the latter counter-accused the American leadership saying it was hiding its own failure. The US has also been vocal against China’s over the developments in Hong Kong, Taiwan and India border. Recently, Washington shut a Chinese consulate in Houston after accusing it of spying and the Asian power retaliated by doing the same with the American consulate in Chengdu. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been particularly ruthless in his criticism when it comes to the Chinese leadership and the Chinese side has also responded in equally strong terms.
Positives in US-China relations from the past
Recalling the positive developments in the relationship between the US and China despite their fundamental ideological and political differences against today’s backdrop, Tiankai wrote in his opinion piece: “In early 1979, Deng Xiaoping, then Vice Premier of China, paid a groundbreaking visit to the United States soon after the two countries established diplomatic relations. At a Texas rodeo, Mr. Deng was pictured donning a cowboy hat, which became a lasting symbol of China-US friendship. That memorable scene took place at Simonton, a town near Houston.
“It was also during that visit that China and the US signed the agreement to open consulates in each other’s country. Houston was where China’s first consulate was set up.”
The 67-year-old ambassador also mentioned the famous rapprochement between the two powers in the early 1970s when the likes of president Richard Nixon, his national security adviser Henry Kissinger, chairman Mao Zedong and premier Zhou Enlai took initiatives to better the relations between the two nations even as the world witnessed the Cold War between the capitalist and communist blocs.
“During his own visit to China, Nixon said: 'It is not our common beliefs that have brought us together here, but our common interests and our common hopes … the hope that each of us has to build a new world order in which nations of people with different systems and different values can live together in peace, respecting one another while disagreeing with one another',” Tiankai said.
“The idea at the heart of Nixon’s statement—respect for each other’s political systems and core interests—has been the basis for the establishment and continued growth of China-U.S. relations, to the benefit of the two peoples and the whole world. The ups and downs of the past 41 years have proved that both countries stand to benefit from cooperation and lose from confrontation,” the envoy, who has been serving in the post since 2013, said.
Tiankai also cited the softer sides of the US-China relationships like the popularity of Houston Rockets among Chinese basketball fans because of Yao Ming or that of beefsteaks from Texas in China. He also cited statistics to assert that China is a key trading partner of the region and the role of the Houston consulate could not be ignored in these successes.
In a slight dig at the Trump administration over the decision to close the Houston consulate, the Chinese ambassador said many people in China and outside were shocked by the decision taken by the US authorities that he called an “unusual break in international diplomacy”. Holding the US responsible, he said: “Washington’s decision will dampen people-to-people exchanges, causing inconvenience for the visa and passport application in the region to say the least, and diminish the desire for cooperation between the two countries. From a broader perspective, it is only one in a series of moves to demonize China and ramp up ideological confrontation.”
“However, no sensible foreign policy is based on ignorance, arrogance or shortsightedness, let alone hatred. As some try to overthrow the China policy built by successive U.S. administrations, it is important to remember the history between the two countries,” the envoy wrote.
'The world needs more cooperation than confrontation'
Tiankai said the first three crises in the first two decades of the 21st century -- the 9/11 attacks, the 2008 financial crisis and the outbreak of Covid-19 -- show the world today resides in a community with a shared future where addressing non-traditional security threats and other global challenges become a shared responsibility.
The veteran diplomat then said the US’s relationship with China can witness a better future when it is based on dialogue and cooperation where mutual respect and win-win cooperation triumphs conflict and confrontation. He defended China’s America policy and said the retaliation in Chengdu was “merely a legitimate response based on the principle of reciprocity, which is consistent with diplomatic practices and a due right of all sovereign nations.”
He said China is still willing to have a good relationship with the US and hoped that the latter “will return to the right track”.