At a very critical turning point in Sino-US relations, the heads of state of China and the United States held a video meeting yesterday, which attracted worldwide attention. The self-media “Xia Ke Island” under the “People’s Daily” interviewed Wang Dong, the executive director of Peking University’s Sino-foreign Humanities Exchange Research Base and professor of the School of International Relations, to interpret the meeting and judge the future situation in the Taiwan Strait and the trend of Sino-US relations.
The heads of state of China and the United States held a video meeting yesterday.Xinhua News Agency Pictures
The meeting lasted nearly 4 hours and covered various fields such as diplomacy, economy and trade, energy security, Taiwan issue, climate change, and global anti-epidemic. The two sides also talked about other international and regional issues including Afghanistan, the Iranian nuclear and the Korean Peninsula situation. problem. The Xinhua News Agency’s draft used four words to describe the meeting: frank, constructive, substantive and fruitful.
Wang Dong believes that the diplomacy of the head of state has the effect of “directing the rudder.” He first mentioned a detail: This meeting was held in the morning by the Chinese side and evening by the US side. It can be seen that the proactive and passive attitudes of resolving Sino-US relations have begun to change.
President Xi put forward three principles that China and the United States should adhere to in the new era: mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation. Wang Dong pointed out that this is also a clear message to the United States: the era when the United States unilaterally defines Sino-US relations has passed, and China and the United States must enter an era of mutual respect and equal treatment in the future.
According to Wang Dong’s analysis, the U.S. government has highlighted the duality of its China policy. To a certain extent, being tough on China is also the consensus of the two parties. There are some domestic politicians who are still incomplete, holding a cold war mentality, and doing everything possible to suppress China.
Wang Dong reminded that China must prepare for a long-term and arduous struggle in this regard, resolutely oppose the unreasonable suppression by the United States, and defend our national interests.
J-16 fighter.
Regarding the Taiwan Strait issue, the US government ostensibly recognizes the one-China principle, but in reality it will continue to show its duality and continue to test the red line. Wang Dong quoted President Xi’s speech, “If the separatist forces of “Taiwan independence” provoked and persecuted, or even broke the red line, we would have to take drastic measures,” reminding everyone to pay attention to what this “decisive measure” is. I believe the US and Taiwan authorities understand. .
As for Sino-US economic and trade issues, Wang Dong believes that the United States’ zero-sum game thinking on economic and trade issues is not good for both countries. China and the United States need to reconnect on the basis of equality, mutual benefit and reciprocity, which is in the common interest of both countries.
American companies participated in the 4th CIIE.CCTV pictures
However, Wang Dong believes that we should not regard the United States as a “monolithic one.” There are still many rationalists, pragmatists, and centrists in the United States, but now the domestic politics of the United States is polarized. These people want to speak out and have many worries.
In terms of Sino-US cooperation, Wang Dong believes that there are many hands-on. For example, the climate issue can become a new highlight of Sino-US cooperation. Public health security cooperation during the epidemic is also of practical significance, including China’s proposal to work together to crack the “vaccine deficit” and eliminate the global “vaccine gap”. If the U.S. responds positively and the two parties work together, it will play a very positive role in promoting global public health and the prevention and control of infectious diseases.
President Xi compared China and the United States to two huge ships sailing in the sea.Xinhua News Agency Pictures
President Xi made a good analogy: China and the United States are two huge ships sailing in the sea. They must keep their rudder steady, not yaw, not stall, and not collide. This has clarified the direction and route for the development of Sino-US relations in the next 50 years.
The full text of the interview with “Xia Ke Island” is as follows:
1. Xia Ke Dao: Recently, the United States is still making two moves. On the one hand, it seeks China’s cooperation on the climate issue. On the other hand, it is still playing the side ball on the Taiwan issue and promising to “defend Taiwan.” What do you think of the meeting between the two heads of state in this atmosphere?
Wang Dong: We can first look at the schedule of the meeting. For this meeting, the Chinese side was in the morning and the US side was in the evening. The foreign media also emphasized that the meeting was a request made by Biden. This shows that the active and passive attitudes of resolving Sino-US relations have begun to change.
Now, Sino-US relations are at a very critical turning point. Are the two countries working together for a win-win situation or are they heading for conflict and confrontation? This is the first question of direction to be resolved at the meeting between the Chinese and US heads of state.
Previously, the Trump administration adopted very irresponsible and bad practices, which caused extremely serious damage to Sino-US relations, which can be called the worst since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States. The new U.S. government has inherited Trump’s “competitiveness” thinking and proposed a so-called “competition, cooperation, and confrontation” policy toward China. However, the Chinese side clearly stated that in order to bring Sino-U.S. relations back on track, it cannot simply use ” “Competition” defines Sino-US relations.
Under the thinking of “all-round competition,” the White House still believes that China wants to challenge US hegemony. This is a serious strategic misjudgment. However, unlike the Trump administration, Biden has returned to multilateralism, realizing that if China and the United States continue to confront and move toward a new cold war, the relationship between the two countries and the world will be unbearable.
However, the US still has an illusion that it not only wants to suppress China on core interests such as sovereignty and development (such as the Taiwan issue, Hong Kong issue, etc.), but also wants to seek cooperation from China on some issues (such as climate issues, etc.). This is the duality of the U.S. government’s China policy.
The head of state diplomacy has the effect of “directing the rudder.” In this video meeting, President Xi Jinping put forward three principles that China and the United States should adhere to in the new era: mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation. This is also a clear message to the United States: The era when the United States unilaterally defines Sino-US relations has passed, and China and the United States must enter an era of mutual respect and equal treatment in the future.
2. Xia Ke Island: The outside world is highly concerned about the Taiwan issue. Biden clearly reiterated that the U.S. government pursues the long-term and consistent one-China policy and does not support “Taiwan independence.” What do you think of Biden’s statement? Will this affect the trend of the Taiwan issue?
Dong Wang: Since Bibb took office, he has recalled some of the more radical practices of Trump’s period, but at the same time strengthened US-Taiwan relations, including strengthening US-Taiwan military relations. It should be said that the US government is still “cutting sausages” on the Taiwan issue. On the one hand, it is trying to test the mainland’s bottom line by scoring a side ball.
However, we must clearly realize that the game and struggle surrounding the Taiwan issue will certainly continue. The pro-Taiwan forces within the US Congress are not small, and they have always tried to “use Taiwan to control China.” On the surface, the US government recognizes the one-China principle, but in reality it will continue to show its duality and continue to test the red line. For China, the Taiwan issue is related to sovereign territorial integrity, and other countries are not allowed to interfere. There is no room for negotiation on this matter. During this meeting, President Xi Jinping clearly told the US side: We are patient and are willing to strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification with the utmost sincerity and best efforts. However, if the “Taiwan independence” separatist forces provoke persecution and even break the red line, we will have to Take drastic measures.
I believe that both the US and Taiwan authorities understand what this drastic measure is.
3. Xia Ke Island: In the past few years, economy and trade have always been a sensitive topic in the relations between the two countries. Before the meeting, the U.S. Treasury secretary and other officials said that imposing tariffs on China has pushed up U.S. prices, which was interpreted by the outside world as a loose mouth on economic and trade issues. The meeting also discussed the economic and trade issues of the two countries. How do you think this will affect the economic and trade relations between the two countries?
Wang Dong: The crux of the problem is the excessive security and politicization of economic and trade issues in the United States. For example, the suppression of Chinese companies such as Huawei and ZTE will link industries involving big data, 5G, and supply chains with “national security.” In addition, the US trade protectionist measures and artificial “decoupling” are all splitting the integrated global market. During the meeting, President Xi Jinping asked the U.S. to stop abusing and generalizing the concept of national security to suppress Chinese companies. He asked the U.S. to avoid excessive security and politicization, and not to raise business matters to national security at will, and let U.S. politicians take advantage of it. Political interests.
In fact, the United States constantly wields the tariff stick, really shooting itself in the foot. Ollens, chairman of the National Committee on US-China Relations, recently wrote an article that the United States has lost 300,000 jobs due to tariffs, and a family of four in the United States will spend an extra US$2,300 a year for this.
It can be seen that the zero-sum game thinking of the United States on economic and trade issues is not good for both countries. China and the United States need to reconnect on the basis of equality, mutual benefit and reciprocity, which is in the common interest of both countries.
4. Xia Ke Island: Recently, Sullivan, the National Security Affairs Assistant of the US President, stated that he “does not seek to change the Chinese system”; Campbell, the White House’s “Indo-Pacific” strategic coordinator, also said that “the era of competition will be entered in the future”; US Secretary of State Blincoln proposed Hua “competition, cooperation, confrontation”, competition is the main axis. During the meeting, Biden also mentioned “competition,” but he hoped that “competition between China and the United States would not slip into conflict.” What do you think of this series of US remarks?
Wang Dong: After the normalization of Sino-US relations in the 1970s, the United States formed a “consensus of contact”: through contact with China, it was hoped that China would be included in the US-led international political and economic order, thereby changing China and allowing China to be in Politically and economically, it converges with the United States. Obviously, this old “consensus of contact” is arrogant, which is tantamount to asking for a sword, and there is a serious cognitive bias.
In the eyes of many American politicians, in the past half-century, China has not only failed to meet the wishes of the United States, but has embarked on a path of socialism with Chinese characteristics and has become the world’s second largest economy. China has not “discolored”, which disappointed them, believing that their strategy of engaging with China has failed. So jumping from one extreme to the other, from the initial “change China” to seeing China as a threat, and then suppressing China.
Fundamentally speaking, this change of mentality is based on the mentality of defending its global boss and global hegemony on the one hand, and on the other hand, it is based on a serious misjudgment of China’s strategic intentions. Use tough methods to suppress the challenger.
During the meeting, President Xi Jinping once again emphasized that there is no gene in the blood of the Chinese nation to invade others and dominate. Since the founding of New China, we have not actively initiated a war or conflict, nor have we invaded and occupied an inch of land in other countries. China has no intention of promoting its own path all over the world. On the contrary, we have always encouraged all countries to find a development path that suits their national conditions.
The words are very clear. By reiterating China’s development path and strategic intentions, it urges the United States to implement its statement of not fighting a “new cold war.” After all, Yin Jian is not far from engaging in the Cold War of ideological demarcation, camp division, and group confrontation.
5. Xia Ke Island: However, judging from the domestic environment in the United States, being tough on China has become the consensus of the two parties to a certain extent. Under this circumstance, how should the two sides implement the consensus of the heads of state and promote pragmatic cooperation?
Wang Dong: Indeed, some politicians in the United States are still holding on to the cold war mentality and doing everything possible to suppress China. In this regard, China must be prepared for a long and arduous struggle, resolutely counteract the unreasonable suppression by the US, and defend our national interests. At the same time, don’t regard the United States as a “monolithic one.” There are still many rationalists, pragmatists, and centrists in the United States, but now the domestic politics in the United States is polarized. These people want to speak up and have many worries.
There are many starting points for Sino-US cooperation. For example, the climate issue can become a new highlight of Sino-US cooperation. Public health security cooperation during the epidemic is also of practical significance, including China’s proposal to work together to crack the “vaccine deficit” and eliminate the global “vaccine gap”. If the U.S. responds positively and the two parties work together, it will play a very positive role in promoting global public health and the prevention and control of infectious diseases.
President Xi Jinping made a good analogy: China and the United States are two huge ships sailing in the sea. They must keep their rudder steady, not yaw, not stall, and not collide. This has clarified the direction and route for the development of Sino-US relations in the next 50 years.
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