Great Changes, Great Horizon, and Great Vision: China and the US Must Find the R

Currently, changes of the world, of our times and of history are unfolding in ways like never before. The China-US relationship,as one of the most important bilateral relationships in the world,faces complicated and severe challenges like never before. China and the US are in a new round of mutual exploration, understanding and adaptation.Whether we can well handle our relations concerns both the wellbeing of 1.7 billion Chinese and American people and the world peace and prosperity. It is a question of the century that both countries must well answer. President Xi Jinping has pointed out, “When China and the United States cooperate, the two countries and the world will benefit; when China and the United States are in confrontation, the two countries and the world will suffer. Getting the relationship right is not optional, but something we must do and must do well.”

I

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the former US President Richard Nixon’s visit to China and the issuance of the Shanghai Communiqué. At the height of the Cold War 50 years ago, the elder generation of Chinese and American leaders, including Chairman Mao Zedong, Premier Zhou Enlai, President Richard Nixon, and Dr. Henry Kissinger, in light of the changing international landscape, showed extraordinary strategic wisdom, vision and courage, put national interests and people’s well-being first, rose above ideological differences, and conducted“philosophical discussions” on some fundamental issues. As a result, the ice of estrangement that had lasted for over 20 years was broken, ending longtime confrontation and hostility. They realized the epoch-making handshake across the Pacific, and started the normalization process of China-US relations. Since then, two major countries with different social systems have shown the willingness to coexist peacefully, ushering in fundamental changes in international relations.

Over the past half century, China-US relations have gone through ups and downs and made historic achievements, delivering tangible benefits to the two countries and peoples, and greatly promoting world peace, stability and prosperity. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, our two-way trade has continued to grow. In 2021, it hit a record high of US$750 billion despite the COVID-19 pandemic, up by 28.7 percent, which supported millions of jobs in both countries. US goods exports to China reached US$149 billion, a year-on-year increase of 21 percent, and the stock of our two-way investment exceeded US$250 billion, providing continuous growth drivers for the economy of both countries and the whole world. There are more than 70,000 US-invested enterprises in China, 97 percent of which are profitable. From combating terrorism, jointly responding to the financial crisis, and fighting the Ebola epidemic, to facilitating the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear issue, reaching the Paris Agreement on climate change, and issuing the China-US Joint Statement Addressing the Climate Crisis; from the trilateral cooperation on food security in East Timor to our good coordination and cooperation in counter-terrorism, non-proliferation, drug control, and peacekeeping, as well as our communication and coordination on regional hotspot issues, China and the US have got one thing after another done, delivering benefits to the two countries and the world through their cooperation.

China and the United States have maintained close people-to-people exchanges. In 1972, the Chinese and American table tennis teams exchanged visits, which realized the “small ball moving the big ball.” Last year, the National Committee on US-China Relations, the United States Table Tennis Association and the Chinese Table Tennis Association jointly held a commemorative event for the 50th anniversary of “Ping-pong Diplomacy”in Houston, where three generations of Chinese and American Ping-pong players renewed friendship and replayed that part of history through Pingpong games. So far, 50 pairs of sister-province/state and 234 pairs of sistercity relations have been established between China and the US. Before the pandemic, there were over 300 flights between the two countries every week, and more than 5 million passengers flew across the Pacific every year. During the pandemic, people from all walks of life still maintain communication with each other through phone calls, letters, video link and other means. These achievements in our relations come from the hard efforts of generations of Chinese and Americans, and should be well cherished.

The past 50 years of China-US relations have shown that we should steer our relations in a direction that accords with the trend of the times and history, and we must run our relationship well and not let it fail. The most important thing in international relations of the past 50 years is the normalization and continuous development of China-US relations, which has benefited both countries and the world, and for the next 50 years, the most important thing in international relations is that China and the United States must find the right way to get along.

II

Today, China is the biggest developing country, and the US the largest developed country. We are the world’s two biggest economies, and both are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. Therefore, the global influence of China-US relations has notably increased from 50 years ago. The international community looks to China and the United States for stronger cooperation to jointly advance the lofty cause of peace and development. However, out of its wrong perceptions, the US takes China as its main strategic competitor and has meted out comprehensive containment and suppression on China, reducing China-US relations to a very difficult situation and gravely damaging our bilateral exchanges and cooperation.This does not serve the fundamental interests of the two peoples and the common interests of various countries in the world. Not long ago, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivered a China policy speech, where he said the US would increase direct communication with China and carry out cooperation in some fields, but at the same time, the speech played up the China threat, interfered in China’s internal affairs, and smeared its domestic and foreign policies. The core message is that the US will concentrate its efforts on comprehensive and intense competition with China. This shows America’s misperception and misjudgment of the world’s trend and China’s development intention, and also highlights the differences between the two countries in some major issues.

What kind of world do we live in today?

As a Chinese saying goes, the world will keep those who share the same interests with it. As the world moves towards greater multi-polarity and economic globalization, and goes through changes of an information era,our planet has become a community with a shared future. Our interests are intertwined and our tomorrow is connected. The global village faces countless challenges and problems, where no country can stay unaffected from them or realize dominance in the world. The more complicated and difficult the global issues and challenges are, the more we need to work together. The correct solution is that countries should carry out dialogue and cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual respect, stay committed to openness and inclusiveness instead of closedness and exclusion, uphold international law and international rules instead of seeking one’s own supremacy, and defend fairness and justice instead of pursuing hegemony and bullying.Countries should have the interests of the world in mind, follow the rules of governance, align their own interests with global interests, practice genuine multilateralism, and promote democracy in international relations.

Some Americans believe that China and the US are two incompatible“operating systems” in the international system, and they claim that the“rules-based international order” must be upheld. But what these “rules”are and what the “order” is must be clearly defined. Are the rules the“house rules” of the United States? Or do they refer to the international system with the United Nations at its core, the international order based on international law, and the basic norms governing international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter? If they refer to the latter, China and most countries in the world would readily accept them,and the United States should do the same. However, if some country chooses to align with a few countries to contain and suppress others, and exercise unilateralism in the name of multilateralism; if some country clings to the outdated Cold-War mentality, plays up “democracy versus authoritarianism,”and seeks hegemony under the banner of democracy; if some country asks other countries to follow rules while applying double standards and making exceptions for itself, it will only make the world seriously divided and will gravely undermine international and regional peace, security and stability.The world today should not be ruled by the law of the jungle. There should not be any hot wars or return to the Cold War, still less should there be any room for hegemonism, bloc politics and Cold-War mentality.

President Xi has clearly pointed out, “The Cold-War mentality would only wreck the global peace framework, hegemonism and power politics would only endanger world peace, and bloc confrontation would only exacerbate security challenges in the 21st century.” The “new Cold War” should not be the defining feature of our times. It is ridiculous and dangerous to draw an ideological line, engage in bloc politics and confrontation, and apply the “Cold War playbook” to today’s China-US relations, just like Don Quixote tilted at windmills.

How do we conduct ourselves and understand others?

Both China and the United States are at critical stages of development.First, both countries should concentrate on running their own domestic affairs well, become better selves, at the same time assume their due international responsibilities and deliver greater benefits to the world. This is the shared aspiration of people of both countries and the world.

Some people in the US believe that China’s goal is to challenge and displace America, and China is betting against America. This is a serious misjudgment of China’s strategic intention. The world is big enough to accommodate the respective and common development of our two countries. The mission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) is to pursue happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the nation. The overarching task of China is to develop and meet its people’s aspirations for a better life. China has been modernizing the system and capability of national governance, promoting reform and opening-up at a higher standard, and building a new development paradigm with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other, which provides greater development space and opportunities for the world. China is always a builder of world peace,contributor to global development, and defender of the international order.The Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative put forward by President Xi have been widely welcomed and supported by the international community. In the final analysis, our development is to establish both ourselves and others, not to outperform, outplace or outcompete anyone else.

Some people in the US believe that America can win the “new Cold War” against China. This reflects serious misunderstanding of history and China. China is not the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union and the United States had little engagement back then, with extremely tense relations, and the two blocs of the Cold War could barely coexist. Under the leadership of the CPC, the 1.4 billion Chinese people are united as one and have blazed the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics. We are developing the whole-process people’s democracy, ensuring that the people are the master of the country. China has eliminated absolute poverty, and now it enjoys economic development and prosperity, social harmony and stability,and better livelihoods for the people. Meanwhile, the CPC enforces strict discipline over itself. It shares one mind with the people, and works together with the people. The Harvard Kennedy School has conducted a survey on Chinese public opinion for 10 years in a row. According to the results, over 90 percent of the Chinese citizens surveyed are satisfied with their government, and this has been the case for the whole decade. China is closely linked to the US and integrated with the world. It’s the world’s second largest economy, the biggest trader in goods, and the number one destination of foreign investment. It is the biggest trading partner of over 120 countries and regions. China never engages in aggression or expansion, and never exports its political system or development model.It is committed to peaceful, open, cooperative and common development,works to build a community with a shared future for mankind, and upholds the common values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom. China’s national rejuvenation has become a historical inevitability.China does not bet against the US, and the US should not bet against China.

What is the right way for China and the US to get along?

Lately, some people in the US have attempted to reframe historical narratives by claiming that engagement with China has failed. They have asserted that cooperation with China did not reach its purpose, and stressed the idea of strategic competition. This is denying history and the achievements of the China-US relationship as well as the prospects of its sound and stable development. China and the US have huge common interests and responsibilities. If the United States keeps defining its relations with China as major-power competition and sets its policy goal as “I-winyou-lose,” it will only push the two countries into confrontation and conflict and the world into division and turmoil. It will be a tragedy of majorcountry competition that has no winner. China and the United States do compete in some areas, but such competition should have boundaries, and should be healthy competition based on fair and universally recognized international rules. The purpose of the competition is to reinforce each other and make each other better, faster and stronger. It should not be a zero-sum game where winner takes all, still less should it be unscrupulous suppression,malicious competition or vicious confrontation.

China stands ready for fair competition with the US on how to run the country better and deliver a safe and happy life to the people, how to further empower global growth, how to provide more public goods for global efforts to tackle climate change and the pandemic, and how to produce better solutions to regional hotspots. It should not be about how to obstruct the other side’s development or interfere in other countries’ internal affairs, how to decouple and cut off supplies, and how to build “small yard, high fence.”If the US wants to increase investment in its own development and raise its competitiveness, it’s America’s own business and has nothing to do with China.

The mainstream and essence of China-US relations should be integrated interests and win-win results. Cooperation is the only correct choice for both sides. The three principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and winwin cooperation put forward by President Xi Jinping are the right way for the two countries to get along with each other. They serve the fundamental interests of the Chinese and American people and the common aspiration of the international community, and should be the fundamental guidance for the development of China-US relations, for the past, the present and the future. Major-power competition is not the theme of our times, and zerosum game is not the right choice. China is firmly opposed to defining China-US relations by competition.

If two countries are in political confrontation, it is hard for them to have sound cooperation in other areas. Recently, Dr. Henry Kissinger alerted again that confrontation would lead to conflict, so the US and China should coexist under the principles, carry out serious dialogue and handle the issues that exist between the two countries. China-US relations should be based on rationality and facts, not lies, misjudgment and disinformation.Differences do not warrant demonization or stigmatization, nor should they justify hostility or confrontation. Our two countries should face up to our differences and put them under control, and more importantly, we should resolve and rise above them to expand our common ground. We should not only deal with the crises when they happen; more importantly, we should prevent them from happening in the first place.

III

China-US relations are still not out of the difficulties caused by the previous US administration, and even facing mounting challenges.

The US has been making trouble on issues concerning China’s core interests, and trying to interfere in China’s internal affairs, smear China and obstruct China’s development on issues concerning Taiwan,Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Xizang. The Taiwan question has always been the most important, sensitive core issue in the China-US relationship and concerns its political foundation. If not well handled, the question will have subversive impact on our relations, and the Chinese government has no room for compromise or backdown on this question. The one-China principle has been the bedrock of China-US relations as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. This bedrock, however, is in peril like never before.Tsai Ing-wen authorities have rejected the “1992 Consensus,” stoked up confrontation across the Taiwan Strait, and colluded with external forces for an incremental approach to “Taiwan independence.” The US government,while claiming its one-China policy has not changed, that it does not support “Taiwan independence” and does not want conflict with China, is substantially upgrading its official relations with Taiwan, sending senior officials to the island, selling sophisticated weaponry to Taiwan, and declaring that Taiwan’s status is undetermined and that the US will defend Taiwan militarily. It keeps hollowing out the one-China policy, and puts its Taiwan Relations Act and the Six Assurances, something that only reflects its own will, above the three Sino-US joint communiques, which are the common understanding between two countries. These acts all go against the basic norms governing international relations, and China will never accept them.

The real status quo of the Taiwan question and the essence of the one-China principle is: there is only one China in the world; Taiwan is part of China; the government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. “Taiwan independence” is the biggest obstacle to the development of China-US relations and the biggest threat to peace across the Taiwan Strait. China will continue to firmly defend national sovereignty, security and development interests, and resolutely fight all acts that interfere in China’s internal affairs and obstruct or undermine China’s reunification. China’s legitimate acts will be supported by all forces that stand for justice in the international community.

The US claims that it would “shape the strategic environment around China.” Under the banner of “freedom and openness,” it has been putting together anti-China alliances and concocting the “Indo-Pacific Strategy” to go for geopolitical confrontation. In an effort to promote bloc politics, the US has formed AUKUS with the UK and Australia and QUAD with Japan, India and Australia, strengthened the “Five Eyes alliance” and bilateral military alliances, built closed and exclusionary cliques, and forced regional countries to choose sides. With its efforts, NATO has got involved in Asia-Pacific affairs, and introduced the “Strategic Concept” document that calls China a “systemic challenge.” The US has done everything possible to materialize an “Asia-Pacific version of NATO” and promote “integrated deterrence” against China. It has used the US-ASEAN Special Summit to provoke trouble in the South China Sea and take the South China Sea as a card, asserting problem with freedom of navigation there, and it has also announced the launch of the “Indo-Pacific Economic Framework,” which deliberately keeps China out.

President Xi Jinping has pointed out many times, “the Pacific is big enough to accommodate China and the United States.” The Asia-Pacific region, where the two countries’ interests are most interwoven and they most frequently and closely interact with each other, should well become a demonstration field of building mutual trust and cooperation, rather than a backyard where one pursues sphere of influence, let alone a wrestling ground for confrontation or conflict. The trend of the times in the Asia-Pacific is to promote regional integration and build an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future. Any regional strategy’s success depends on whether it conforms to the vision of regional countries seeking peace, development, cooperation and win-win results. Any act that undermines the fundamental and longterm interests of countries in the region out of selfish interests will be shortlived and doomed to fail. Any attempt to create various sorts of cliques and incite division and confrontation will lead nowhere. The world should no longer be divided by a “new Berlin Wall.”

The US is speeding up decoupling from China by building “small yard, high fence,” cutting off supplies and imposing trade bans. The Biden administration still keeps the China tariffs introduced by the Trump administration, and, on the grounds of national security and supply chain resilience, continues to abuse sanctions so as to decouple from China in high-tech industry and capital markets. Such acts have harmed the interests of all parties, and shored up the inflation in the US. Since the US introduced Section 301 tariffs on China, 92.4 percent of the cost of the tariffs has been borne by American companies and consumers. These additional tariffs have cost American companies more than US$1.7 trillion, and made each American household pay almost US$1,300 more annually on average. The trade war with China has made the US lose nearly 250,000 jobs. The US has fabricated the lie of “forced labor” in Xinjiang, maliciously suppressing Xinjiang’s cotton, tomato, photovoltaic and other leading industries. This has seriously violated WTO rules, disrupted international trade order, and hurt the stability of global industrial chain. The US has also used opaque and unfair administrative means to impose all-round restrictions on Chinese companies’ financing and operations in the US. It has so far put 1,100 Chinese entities and individuals on various sanctions lists, and the current Congress has introduced more than 400 negative China-related bills. The“Bipartisan Innovation Act” the Congress is working on mentions China for over 800 times, filled with clauses that interfere in China’s internal affairs,harm China’s interests, and undermine China-US cooperation.

President Xi has pointed out, “attempts to single-mindedly build ‘small yard, high fence’ and to decouple, disrupt supply or exert maximum pressure do not work.” The economic structures of China and the United States are highly complementary and their interests deeply intertwined. The US is China’s largest trading partner, and China the second largest holder of US Treasury bonds. China-US trade provides American consumers with a large number of quality and affordable products. The cumulative non-financial direct investment of Chinese enterprises in the United States exceeds US$70 billion. China-US economic and trade relations are win-win in nature. It is nothing unusual for the two countries to have differences and frictions,and the key is how to resolve them. It is not feasible to politicize economic and trade issues and use trade as a tool. Either Section 301 investigations or tariff war will only be counterproductive. The sole workable way is to seek a solution through equal-footed consultation based on the principles of mutual respect, mutual understanding and mutual accommodation.

The US side has been creating disturbances and obstacles to the normal exchanges between the two countries in education, science,technology, people-to-people and cultural engagement. Some people in the United States have been suppressing educational and cultural exchanges with China out of political motivations, causing fears among students, scholars, scientists and artists in the two countries, and making it difficult for them to freely communicate and cooperate. Some people have fabricated the lies that Chinese students are all spies and that Confucius Institutes are for cultural infiltration, and many Chinese students and scholars have been deported, denied visas, interrogated, and harassed for no reason, with the chilling effect overshadowing the educational and peopleto-people exchanges between the two countries. Some people, keen on the“Clean Network” program, have set up technology barriers and pieced up a “Democratic Technology Alliance” to politicize science and technology and link them to ideology, in an attempt to obstruct China’s development by “cutting off the flow” of science and technology. The anti-China rhetoric fuels the Asian hate in the US, and crimes against Chinese Americans have significantly grown. These policies and measures go against the trend of globalization, and are on the wrong side of history, and the opposite side of the two peoples. They have no support of the people.

As a proverb goes, mountains do not meet; people do. The history of China-US relations is filled with examples of the decades-long dedication and hard work of people from all walks of life through their engagement,exchanges, communication and cooperation. The people’s communication and friendship cannot be blocked. The ties between the two societies are conducive to deepening mutual understanding and friendship, enhancing the positive perception of the other side, advancing common interests,and promoting the healthy development of China-US relations. As a Chinese saying goes, “Friendliness leads to harmony, while discord leads to misfortune.” It is necessary to remove the “stumbling block” that stands in the way of the exchanges and cooperation between various sectors, and gradually realize mutual accommodation and integration by deepening exchanges and communication, so as to strengthen the popular support for the development of China-US relations.

The Ukraine crisis has added complexities to an already challenging China-US relationship. When the crisis broke out, the US falsely claimed that China knew about the war in advance but did not prevent it from happening, and that China was providing military assistance to Russia. It threatened “consequences” if China helped Russia evade sanctions. It talked about “China-Russia axis,” and attempted to make China bear responsibility for the Ukraine crisis. It has drawn parallel between the Taiwan question and the Ukraine crisis, clamoring about “Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow.” It has ignored the lessons that should be learned from the Ukraine crisis, and stepped up creating an “Asia-Pacific version of NATO.”

China has always made its own judgment based on the history and merit of the Ukraine issue. President Xi has put forward the Global Security Initiative, and stressed, “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries must be respected, the purposes and principles of the UN Charter must be fully observed, the legitimate security concerns of all countries must be taken seriously, and all efforts that are conducive to the peaceful settlement of the crisis must be supported.” China and the United States should strengthen communication and cooperation, work for the establishment of a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security vision in the world, jointly carry out practical and constructive dialogue, coordination and cooperation on the ongoing crisis and beyond as well as its aftermath, and gradually put in place a balanced, effective and sustainable global and regional security architecture. China will continue to play a constructive role to this end. Dragging China, the US, Russia, Europe,the Asia-Pacific and the world down will do no good to future generations. A worse Russia-US relationship does not mean a better China-US relationship,and likewise, a worse China-Russia relationship does not mean a better USRussia relationship, either. More importantly, if the China-US relationship is messed up, that does not augur well for Russia-US relations or the world.

IV

There is still a long way to go for the improvement and development of China-US relations, with many difficulties and challenges, and at the same time huge opportunities and potential. The development of state-to-state relations is in the end for the people. President Xi has stressed, “The people is the maker of history. The friendship between Chinese and American people is not only a valuable asset, but also an important foundation for the development of bilateral relations.” China and the US are major countries with respective populations of 1.4 billion and over 300 million. The growth of China-US relations will always be driven by people-to-people exchanges and inspired by the people’s friendship between China and the US.

After becoming Chinese Ambassador to the United States, I have visited many American cities and states. During the visits and field trips, I met with local and sub-national political leaders, interacted with the business,education and academic communities, engaged directly with ordinary Americans, and attended forums on agriculture, energy, the environment,sustainable development, tourism, and people-to-people ties. The purpose is to resume exchanges between the two countries suspended by the pandemic,enhance communication and exchanges at the sub-national level and between non-governmental organizations, think tanks, the media and the business community, re-energize the people’s interactions, and strengthen the bond of friendship between China and the US, so that more people will get involved in, benefit from and support China-US cooperation. Wherever I went, I was touched by the friendliness, enthusiasm and sincerity of ordinary Americans and also their friendship with the Chinese people. This has made me more convinced that China-US relations are widely supported and our people-topeople exchanges have a promising future.

First, the history of the two peoples’ friendship is well remembered.Chinese and Americans share the qualities of diligence and sincerity, and both yearn for a better life. These commonalities have made both countries great, and also created many wonderful stories of friendship. The “Flying Tigers” is a classic chapter in the shared fight of Chinese and American people against fascism 70 years ago; it is a story about their deep friendship built through the joint fight with life and blood. It lauds the spirit of mutual assistance, and is well known and told by the Chinese and Americans. Not long ago, two “Flying Tigers” veterans, who were about 100 years old,wrote to me to share their life experiences, and called on people to carry forward the spirit of the “Flying Tigers,” cherish peace, and pursue common cooperation.

Second, the foundation of China-US relations is at the local. That China-US cooperation is win-win in nature has the greatest support and resonates the best at the local level. It is fully possible to maintain strong people-to-people ties and cooperation between our two countries, and such ties and cooperation are highly resilient. Various sectors of American society still have the enthusiasm and interest to develop sound cooperation with China, especially at the sub-national level. They sincerely hope that China-US relations will improve, and cooperation and exchanges will strengthen.They all support Chinese investments, welcome Chinese students, and expect to export more products to China. They oppose decoupling, cutting off supplies and tariff war, and are worried about the damages brought about by the US Innovation and Competition Act. As a Chinese saying goes, “The more often friends and relatives engage with each other, the closer they get with each other.” Greater positive energy can be injected into the sound and stable development of China-US relations by strengthening sub-national exchanges, bridging misunderstanding with friendship,eliminating suspicion with trust, and making win-win cooperation the real“political correctness.”

Third, the future of China-US relations lies with the two peoples.Friendship, which derives from close contact between the people, holds the key to sound state-to-state relations. The more interactions the two peoples have with each other, the more solid the foundation of their friendship is,and the more prosperous the two countries’ practical cooperation will be.The story of the 37-year friendship between President Xi Jinping and his old friends in Iowa is deeply rooted and widely told. President Xi also pays special attention to young people. He has personally visited and written to some American schools, sowing the seeds of friendship. Education and people-to-people exchanges have become an important way for the younger generations of China and the United States to develop mutual understanding, mutual respect and friendship. In the United States, the enthusiasm for learning the Chinese language is growing. The students in Minneapolis recited with me the Analects, the Three-Character Classic,and the Ballad of Mulan in fluent Chinese. In West Virginia, I worked with students to rebuild a Chinese folk house moved and reassembled from Yunnan Province of China. The Tianjin Juilliard School, NYU Shanghai,and Duke Kunshan University cooperate with the Chinese side to jointly cultivate talents for both countries and the world. It is just because of such a large number of organizations and people committed to our friendly exchanges that we are fully confident in the future of China-US relations.

V

President Xi Jinping has stressed, “This is an age rife with challenges,but it is also an age full of hope.” Standing at the juncture where our two countries once again need to make a historic choice, we should neither miss the historical opportunity nor make historical mistakes. We need to face squarely the reality and the trend of the times, ensure rationality, take a responsible attitude towards history, the two peoples and the world, view and handle relations with the other side with a broader mind, a more far-sighted vision and a more inclusive approach, keep to the right direction of China-US relations, and strive to build a new model of major-country relationship featuring no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect, and win-win cooperation, so that China-US relations will be rational, stable, manageable and constructive, and can make important contributions to world peace and development. Since last year, President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden have held several phone calls and video calls and reached important principled agreement on China-US relations. President Biden has clearly stated that the US does not seek a new Cold War with China; it does not aim to change China’s system; the revitalization of its alliances is not targeted at China; the US does not support “Taiwan independence”; and it has no intention to seek a conflict with China. The US side should earnestly honor President Biden’s commitments. Only in this way can China-US relations be taken out of the current difficulties and return to the right track.

We need to be clear about the bottom line and respect each other.The US should attach great importance to and take seriously China’s “three bottom lines” and four lists, earnestly respect China’s sovereignty, security and development interests, and refrain from touching and challenging China’s red lines. It should adhere to the one-China principle and maintain the political foundation of China-US relations. It should clearly recognize the high degree of sensitivity of the Taiwan question, keep to the original meaning of the one-China principle, abide by the one-China principle, the provisions of the three Sino-US joint communiques, and other commitments of the US side, stop hollowing out the one-China principle, and stop conniving at and supporting “Taiwan independence” separatist forces. Only in this way can we truly maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and uphold the overall China-US relations.

We need to manage differences and coexist peacefully. As a Chinese saying goes, “The finer details fall into place when they align with the bigger picture.” China and the US have had differences all along, and we will have differences in the future. The key is to manage the differences in a constructive way, prevent them from broadening and escalating, not let the differences and divergences dominate our relations, and prevent our relations from getting out of control and derailed. It is necessary to have correct strategic perception, abandon the Cold-War mentality and bloc confrontation, enhance mutual trust, and address prominent issues on the basis of properly handling our differences. It is necessary to establish the channel for implementing the Presidents’ common understanding, better coordinate the interactions between various departments in various fields,carry out more extensive, in-depth, candid and open communication and exchanges, accurately know the other side’s policy intentions, use facts to remove the misunderstandings and prejudices, use truths to eliminate the hypercritical “political correctness,” and use communication and mutual learning to break the current stalemate that hurts both countries and goes against the will of the two peoples.

We need to eliminate interference and promote win-win cooperation.It is the responsibility and obligation of China and the US to build an interconnected, diverse, inclusive, safe and shared world. In the era of globalization, it is more necessary and urgent to have China-US coordination and cooperation, and our common interests far outweigh our differences.In order to cooperate, we must get rid of the logic of competition and confrontation, accommodate each other’s interests and concerns, pursue the common ground of exchanges and cooperation, and expand our win-win cooperation as much as possible. The two sides should give full play to each other’s comparative advantages, broaden practical cooperation in agriculture,economy and trade, energy, infrastructure, climate change and other fields,enlarge the pie of China-US cooperation, strengthen the forces for cooperation,and extend the list of cooperation as much as possible. Both at the bilateral level and on global issues, the two sides can start from small things, handle easier issues before difficult ones, accumulate successes, seek the breakthrough point to improve the relationship, and clear the obstacles to cooperation.

We need to assume responsibilities and have a global vision. Global challenges require global cooperation. Our two countries should strengthen coordination and cooperation on major international and regional hotspot issues, uphold and practice the right vision of development, security and world order, shoulder our responsibilities, play the due role of major countries, and provide more public goods in helping the world defeat the pandemic, promote post-COVID recovery, jointly deal with the climate crisis, achieve global green, low-carbon and sustainable development,prevent nuclear proliferation, and uphold cybersecurity. We need to work with the international community to defend world peace, promote global development, and put in place a just and fair international order.

Chinese people often say, “Those who travel far will not stop halfway”;Americans say, “The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going.” Now that the door of China-US relations has opened, it will not close again. This is the trend of the times and the aspiration of the people.The US side must abandon its Cold-War mentality, and join the Chinese side in looking to the future and moving forward. We should choose dialogue over confrontation, cooperation over conflict, openness over seclusion, and integration over decoupling. We should show mutual respect as the precondition of our relations, stay clear of the bottom line of peaceful coexistence, work on the key to win-win cooperation, and enable China-US relations to overcome challenges, rebuild trust, and return to the right track as soon as possible, so as to inject long-awaited stability and certainty into the turbulent world, and build a community with a shared future for mankind.