China stands ready to work with the US to find the right way to get along with each other in the new era on the basis of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed in a message sent to an event of the National Committee on US-China Relations, the Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday.
Xi made the remarks in a congratulatory message sent to the annual Gala Dinner of the National Committee on US-China Relations. Xi congratulated Evan Greenberg, vice chair of the national committee and chair of Chubb Limited and Chubb Group, on receiving an accolade at the gala, and extended his appreciation to the committee and its members for their longstanding dedication to the growth of China-US relations and the exchanges and cooperation between the two countries in various areas.
Chinese observers said that while the US’ heightened fear of China has led to increasing pressure on the country, China has instead held the firm stance that it remains committed to mutual respect and peaceful coexistence in bilateral relations, showing the world that China will not be a destroyer of the current world order but will always be a participant of the world order and defender of peace.
They warned that the Biden administration may get tougher on China on the Taiwan question and technology, especially after the midterm elections, as the Democrats may likely lose at least one chamber of Congress, and China consequently needs to improve its ability to “fight.”
Noting that the world today is neither tranquil nor peaceful, Xi said closer communication and cooperation between China and the US, both as major countries, will help bring greater stability and certainty to the world, and promote world peace and development.
China stands ready to work with the US to find the right way to get along with each other in the new era on the basis of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, which will benefit not only the two countries but also the whole world, Xi said.
Xi said he hopes the committee and all those who care for and support China-US relations will continue to play an active role and help bring bilateral relations back to the track of sound and steady development.
Also on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden sent a congratulatory message to the Gala Dinner of the committee.
Yang Xiyu, a senior research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Thursday that Xi’s message shows China’s firm political direction on bilateral ties, which is that China remains committed to mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, as current China-US relations are in a particularly difficult period.
“China’s stance has not changed and will not change even amid US’ enhanced pressure and attacks on China,” Yang said.
Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday that China also took the opportunity to show that China’s policy toward the US is consistent, as Western media and politicians maliciously misinterpreted the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
From the message, we can see that Xi looks at China-US relations from a global perspective, and the world will realize that China will not be the destroyer of the existing so-called world order, but will always be a participant in the world order and a maintainer of global stability. China has always made great efforts not only for China-US relations, but also for global recovery and stability, Lü said.
Heightened pressure
Contrary to China’s policy that stresses peace and cooperation, the US has heightened its attacks on China using the Taiwan question since the 20th National Congress of the CPC.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that China has decided that the status quo of Taiwan’s situation is “no longer acceptable” and has begun to ratchet up pressure on the island, including “holding out the possibility of using force,” Reuters reported.
Mao Ning, spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at Thursday’s media briefing that how to resolve the Taiwan question is entirely China’s internal affair, and we are ready to create broad space for peaceful reunification, but we will never leave any room for secessionist activities seeking “Taiwan independence.”
Mao said that the status quo of the Taiwan Straits is that both sides of the Taiwan Straits belong to one and the same China, and that Taiwan is part of China. It is not China that is trying to change the status quo, but the DPP authority’s secessionist activities and the US’ distortion of the one-China principle.
As for whether China has plans to reopen dialogue with the US in areas including military commanders and on climate change, Mao said that both sides should create favorable conditions and an enabling atmosphere for relevant communication to resume.
Aside from instigating tensions in the Taiwan Straits, the US has accelerated the introduction of Taiwan-related bills to undermine China’s sovereignty and strengthen military ties with the island of Taiwan.
In response, China’s Ministry of Defense spokesman Tan Kefei said on Thursday that China urges the US to stop playing with fire on the Taiwan question. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has always been a strong force for safeguarding China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and any attempt to obstruct China’s complete reunification is bound to fail, Tan said.
Root cause
Also on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden said the US has “a responsibility to manage increasingly intense competition with China.” “We are looking for stiff competition — doesn’t have to be conflict,” the Washington Times reported him as saying.
The report said Biden’s remarks came after the recent release of Biden’s National Security Strategy, which identifies China as “America’s most consequential geopolitical challenge.”
Lü said that all of the current US policies and hostility toward China is really motivated by a fear that China will soon become bigger and stronger and will thus try to challenge US’ leadership in the world, leading to a situation that is close to a cold war-style conflict between the two sides.
It seems that the so-called responsible management of competition raised by Biden is not responsible at all, as the fact remains that many of the measures now being launched by the US are seriously hurting their companies, for instance, semiconductor companies and industry in the US, the expert said.
Observers believed that Biden’s China policy will become more hostile after the midterm elections, when Biden has little room to push forward his domestic legislation, with Democrats likely losing control of at least one chamber of Congress.
Yang said Biden’s measures to blockade China’s development of high technology are likely to be tightened, and more Taiwan-related bills are likely to be introduced in the next two years.
As Taiwan has become the key to China-US relations, Yang said China needs to improve its ability to fight so that the US will correct its wrong actions and work with China to bring bilateral relations back to the right track of coordination, cooperation and stability.
China’s diplomatic front will continue to carry on the fighting spirit and improve its capability to safeguard the country’s dignity and interests, Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu said last week at a news conference on the sidelines of the 20th National Congress of the CPC.
(Global Times)
