Xinhua Exclusive Interview
BEIJING – China and the United States should stop attempts at decoupling and advance their relationship through cooperation, and live up to their responsibility for the world, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua yesterday.
Cooperation between the two countries has never been a case of one party giving favor to the other, or one party taking advantage of the other, said Wang.
Wang said both countries have benefited much from their cooperation, and no one is being taken advantage of or being ripped off, as the mutually beneficial cooperation over the years has turned China and the United States into a community with shared interests.
He noted that China has achieved rapid growth in part thanks to its opening-up to, and cooperation with, the rest of the world, including the United States, adding that China’s continued economic growth has also created impetus for sustained growth and an enormous market for the United States and other countries.
“If China-US cooperation was unfair and not reciprocal, how could it have continued for several decades? How could China-US ties have come such a long way?” Wang asked.
Noting that the problems brought by globalization and free trade should be dealt with through internal reform, Wang said that acting like a sick person who forces others to take medicine for his own illness or even resorting to decoupling will not work.
The development of China and of the United States is not a zero-sum game, and the two countries should not reject each other but draw on each other’s strength to achieve common development, according to Wang.
As COVID-19 takes its toll on the global economy, China and the United States, the world’s two largest economies, should work for mutual benefit on an equal footing, stop attempts at decoupling and advance their relationship through cooperation, and live up to their responsibility for the world, said Wang.
Cool-headed, sensible response
Wang also said that China was ready to come up with a cool-headed and sensible response to the impulsive moves and anxiety of the US side.
In international relations nowadays, dialogue is the right way for settling issues and building trust, Wang said, adding that favoring dialogue over confrontation is not only China’s position but also the consensus of the overwhelming majority of countries.
China and the United States are two major countries with different social systems, histories and cultures, and each has its own interests and concerns, which is natural, he noted.
“But what is important is that no one should unilaterally shut the door for dialogue at any time,” Wang said. “Differences, misjudgments or confrontation should not be allowed to dominate the bilateral relations.”
As a major and responsible country, China is open and above board, and is ready to enter into candid, effective consultation with the US side and come up with a cool-headed and sensible response to the impulsive moves and anxiety of the US side, he noted.
“We are ready to restart the dialogue mechanisms with the US side at any level, in any area and at any time. All issues can be put on the table for discussion,” Wang said.
The Chinese side has proposed that the two countries draw up three lists respectively on cooperation, dialogue and issues that need proper management, and draw up a road-map for future interactions, he added.
“We urge the United States to stop acting with arrogance and prejudice, but enter into constructive dialogue with us on an equal footing,” Wang said.
“We hope that it will work with us to ease current tensions and put the relations back onto the right track of no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation,” he said. “This serves the shared interests of the two peoples and meets the expectation of the international community.”
Starting a ‘diplomatic war’ exposes US lack of confidence
Starting a “diplomatic war” does not prove the strength of the United States, but exposes its increasing lack of confidence, Wang said.
The Chinese Consulate-General in Houston was the first consulate-general opened by China in the United States after the establishment of the diplomatic ties, and it was always an important symbol of China-US friendship, Wang said.
Closing such a consulate-general that bears both historical and current significance is closing a window for exchanges and mutual understanding between the Chinese and Americans, Wang said.
This move has undermined the normal growth of China-US relations and the friendship between the two peoples, he noted.
All the excuses for closure claimed by the US side are nothing but fabrications designed to slander China, and none of the excuses is backed by any evidence or can stand up to scrutiny, Wang said.
China would not swallow the arbitrary and unscrupulous move, and China’s countermeasure is legitimate, justified and lawful, which also fully conforms to diplomatic norms, Wang underscored.
China has no intention to fight a “diplomatic war” with the United States as it will only hurt the interests of the two peoples even more, Wang said.
If the United States is bent on going down the wrong path, China is ready to make due response, Wang added.
China rejects any attempt to create so-called ‘new Cold War’
Wang also said that China rejects any attempt to create a so-called “new Cold War”.
Some American politicians who are biased against, and hostile to, China are using their power to smear China with fabrications and impede normal ties with China under various pretexts, Wang said.
What they want is to revive McCarthyism in an attempt to undermine US relations with China, stoke hostility between the two peoples, and erode trust between the two countries, Wang said.
“Ultimately, they want to drag China and the United States into renewed conflict and confrontation and plunge the world into chaos and division again,” he added.
Noting that China will not allow these people to get their way, Wang stressed that China rejects any attempt to create a so-called “new Cold War”, because it contravenes the fundamental interests of the Chinese and American peoples and the global trend toward development and progress.
Anyone who tries to start a so-called “new Cold War” in the 21st century will be on the wrong side of history and will only be remembered as the one who has upended international cooperation, Wang said.
Today’s China is not the former Soviet Union and China has no intention of becoming another United States, noted Wang.
As the world’s largest developing country and a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China will stay committed to peaceful development and to pursuing an opening-up strategy of mutual benefit, Wang stressed.
“China will continue to promote global peace and development and uphold the international order,” he added.
Wang denounces Pompeo’s assertion of failure of engagement with China
In the interview Wang also denounced US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s assertion that the policy of engagement with China pursued by successive US administrations has failed.
The assertion is just a rehash of the Cold War mentality, Wang said
The assertion turns a blind eye to all that has been achieved in China-US relations over the past decades, and shows ignorance of the historical process and lack of respect for the Chinese and American peoples, Wang said.
This is a political virus which is understandably questioned and rebuked by people in the United States and the international community, he said.
Over four decades ago, the leaders of China and the United States shook hands across the vast Pacific Ocean, he added, noting that what made this possible was that both countries adhered to the principle of mutual respect and seeking common ground while putting aside differences.
Over the past 40 years and more since the two countries set up diplomatic ties, several generations of Chinese and Americans have worked together to advance China-US relations, Wang said.
Wang added that as a result, bilateral ties have become one of the most deeply interwoven relationships in the world with broadest cooperation areas and most extensive common interests. “No one can deny these facts.”
Forty years on, while China and the United States are quite different in social systems and many other aspects, such differences have not affected the peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation between the two countries, and they should not affect their bilateral ties in the future, he said.
It is neither necessary nor possible for the two sides to change each other, Wang stressed. “Instead, we should respect the choice independently made by the people of the other side.”
China’s major achievements in the past decades show that the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics fits China and has also benefited the world, Wang said.
China will continue to pursue development and progress to meet the desire of its people and make new, even greater contributions to mankind, he said.
“Anyone who attempts to derail this process can only end in failure,” said Wang.
Wang urges US to give up failed interventionism
Wang also said that the United States should give up its failed interventionism.
There have always been forces in the United States attempting to rebut the leadership role of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and China’s path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, Wang said.
Their purpose is notably obvious, which is to contain and destabilize China, Wang said.
Wang noted that next year will mark the 100th anniversary of the CPC, stressing that the great endeavor of the Chinese people under the CPC leadership has been recorded in the history of modernization as an outstanding, epoch-making chapter.
Practice is the sole criterion of truth, Wang said. “Does China’s system work for the country? The Chinese people know better than anyone else.”
Wang also noted that many international polls in recent years show that at least 90 percent of the Chinese people trust their government.
The relationship between the CPC and the Chinese people is as close as between “fish and water” and between “seed and soil,” Wang said, stressing that those who attempt to break this strong bond are making themselves enemies of the 1.4 billion Chinese people.
“We have great confidence in our path of socialism with Chinese characteristics. In the meantime, we also respect the development paths chosen by other nations,” he said.
“We are not interested in rivalry of systems, or ideological confrontation with any country,” Wang added. “Likewise, we hope that the United States will respect China’s social system and the Chinese people’s choice, and give up its failed interventionism.” – Xinhua
State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi gives an exclusive interview to Xinhua on China-US ties in Beijing yesterday. – Xinhua
