Safeguarding and Stabilizing China-U.S. Relationship
“You believe deeply in your system, and we believe just as deeply in our system. It is not our common beliefs that have brought us together here, but our common interests and our common hopes.” Senior Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi quoted these words from a speech by U.S. President Richard Nixon during his ice-breaking 1972 trip to China in a recent article.
Yang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, called for true commitment to mutual respect and equality in China-U.S. ties. An edited version of the article, Respect History, Look to the Future and Firmly Safeguard and Stabilize China-U.S. Relations, follows:
The relations between China and the United States are among the most important bilateral relationships in the world. To safeguard and stabilize China-U.S. relations concerns the welfare of the Chinese and American people and people in the world. It also bears on peace, stability and development in the world.
President Xi Jinping pointed out, back in 2014, that past and current experiences show that China and the U.S. stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation. China and the U.S. working together can make great things happen for the two countries and the world at large, while China and the U.S. stuck in confrontation spells disaster for the two countries and beyond.
It is important for both China and the U.S. to stand high and look far, and work together to increase cooperation. Commitment to cooperation and non-confrontation between China and the U.S. brings benefit to both countries and to all in the global community.
In the exchange of congratulatory messages between the two presidents on the 40th anniversary of China-U.S. diplomatic ties, President Xi pointed out that over the past four decades, the bilateral relations have made historic progress despite twists and turns, delivering tremendous benefits to their peoples and contributing significantly to world peace, stability and prosperity. History has made it abundantly clear that there is no better option than cooperation for both countries. The U.S. also recognized the enormous progress in the relations achieved over the decades.
The world is now going through major changes unseen in a century, and peace and development remain the overriding theme of the times. To uphold world peace and promote development for all is the shared mission and responsibility of China and the U.S. What it requires is the two countries viewing and handling their relationship in a proper manner and seeking a way of peaceful coexistence despite differences.
Based on such a recognition, China and the U.S. agreed to work together toward
