(2022.11.17, Drake University)

Provost Sue Mattison,

Your Excellency Ambassador Branstad,

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends,

Good morning. It is my pleasure and honor to attend the 2022 U.S.-China Symposium hosted by Drake University. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all our friends who have been caring about and supporting the development of China-US relations over the years. I would also like to thank Drake University for providing such an important opportunity for in-depth discussion and understanding of China-US relations. I wish the symposium a complete success.

For China and the United States, an objective and rational understanding of each other is crucial to the healthy and stable development of the bilateral relations. The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China convened in October this year can save as a good window for everyone to better understand China and its development.

The 20th National Congress drew up a grand blueprint for building a modern socialist country in all respects, charted the course and drew up guidelines for action for advancing national rejuvenation through a Chinese path to modernization. The Congress reviewed the great achievements of the Party and the country over the past 10 years, elected a new central leadership with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, which reflects the common aspiration of all Chinese people. We are full of confidence in the future of the Chinese national rejuvenation.

The purpose of China’s development is to achieve common prosperity for the 1.4 billion Chinese people and continuously meet people’s ever-growing aspirations for a better life. We will stay committed to deepening reform, opening up to the outside world at a higher level, pursuing innovation-driven development, adhere to the concept of green and low-carbon growth and harmonious coexistence between man and nature. China will continue to promote the construction of a modern economic system, optimization of the business environment, and building of an open world economy to stimulate greater economic vitality and create more opportunities for development.

Chinese path to modernization is a modernization that pursues peaceful development. China adheres to the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence in pursuing friendship and cooperation with other countries, deepening and expanding global partnerships based on equality, openness, and cooperation. China is firm in safeguarding the international system with the United Nations at its core, the international order underpinned by international law, and working to build a community of shared future for mankind. It is within this framework that we seek to develop a healthy and sound China-U.S. relationship.

China and the United States are two major countries with different histories, cultures, social systems and development paths. However, such differences should not become an obstacle to growing China-U.S. relations.

Some people claim that the relationship between China and the United States is one of “democracy versus authoritarianism”. Some people say that China constitutes the gravest threat facing the U.S. This is a misreading of China’s development and a misjudgment of China-U.S. Relations. I want to emphasize the following four points:

Firstly, for China and U.S., we should have appropriate perception about each other’s development path. Freedom, democracy and human rights are common values of humanity, and are also unswervingly pursued by the CPC and the Chinese people. Just as the U.S. has American-style democracy, China has Chinese-style whole-process people’s democracy which is based on China’s reality, history and culture. It combines electoral democracy with consultative democracy and procedural democracy with substantive democracy. It ensures that the will of the people is heard and respected and their aspirations for a better life are constantly met. We are proud of this system. According to the results of an international survey conducted by Harvard University that has lasted for many years, the satisfaction ratio of the Chinese people with the CPC and the Chinese government has exceeded 90% for 10 consecutive years. It is up to the people of the country themselves to judge whether a system is good or not, democratic or not, and whether the  human rights are respected or not. The so-called “democracy versus authoritarianism” is itself a false narrative.

Secondly, we should have appropriate perception of China-U.S. economic relationship. It is not a zero-sum game. The most fundamental feature of the China-U.S. economic relationship is mutual benefit and win-win cooperation. The bilateral trade between China and the United States has increased from 2.5 billion US dollars 43 years ago to 750 billion US dollars in 2021, and the two-way investment has reached 250 billion US dollars. The primary cause behind this growth is our two economies are highly complementary, and people of both countries have benefited greatly from the growing economic ties.

At present, there are more than 70,000 US companies operating in China, with annual sales revenue of over 700 billion US dollars and profits of more than 50 billion US dollars. Most of them are optimistic about the Chinese market and hope to expand investment and operations in China. This reflects the clear choice of the people and the market. There is economic competition among countries, but competition should be about learning from each other to become one’s better self and make progress together, not about taking others down in a zero-sum game. Starting a trade war or a technology war, building walls and barriers, and pushing for decoupling and severing supply chains run counter to the principles of market economy and international trade rules and undermine all parties’ interests. 

Thirdly, we should have appropriate perception about the international obligation that our two countries should shoulder. The interaction between the two countries should not be about exclusion and containment. As two major countries, the development of China-U.S. relations not only concern the well-being of the two peoples, but also directly affect the world’s peace, stability and prosperity. The world today is not so peaceful and various global challenges emerge one after another. China and the U.S. shoulder great responsibilities in safeguarding world peace and guiding and promoting global economic recovery. Many global issues such as the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, anti-terrorism, nonproliferation and regional hotspots also cannot be better addressed without the coordination and cooperation between China and the U.S. The two sides should focus on the bigger picture, and create a sound environment and stable relations for coordination and cooperation in the international arena.

Fourth, we should appropriately and cautiously handle the sensitive issues. Speaking of China-U.S. relations, one cannot avoid Taiwan question. Taiwan question is at the very core of China’s core interests and the one-China principle is the bedrock of the political foundation of China-U.S. relations. Taiwan has been an inalienable part of the Chinese territory since ancient times. Despite the two sides across the Taiwan Strait have not achieved reunification, the fact that the mainland and Taiwan belong to one and same China has never changed and shall never change. The Chinese sovereignty and territory have never been divided. Anyone that seeks to split Taiwan from China will be violating the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation. The Chinese people will absolutely not let that happen! We hope to see, and are all along committed to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and will continue to strive for peaceful reunification with the utmost effort. “Taiwan independence” separatist activities are the biggest threats to cross-Strait peace and stability. If we want to safeguard Cross-Strait peace and stability, we have to remain resolute to opposing and containing the Taiwan separatist forces. We hope that the U.S. side will match its words with action and stick to the one-China principle and the three joint communiqués, respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and respect the common aspirations of the Chinese people to pursue national reunification.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends,

The world is at a major point for inflection in history. Countries need to both tackle unprecedented challenges and seize unprecedented opportunities. This is the larger context in which we should view China-U.S. relations. China’s development aims to create a better life for Chinese people, which relies on the hard work and efforts of 1.4 billion people and relies on the development philosophy of openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation. China’s development means opportunities rather than challenges to the whole world and China’s development has never aimed to challenge or replace the U.S. The respective success of China and the United States are opportunities, not challenges for each other. China-U.S. relations should not be a zero-sum game where one side out-competes or thrives at the expense of the other. The world is big enough for the two countries to develop themselves and prosper together.

A few days before, President Xi Jinping and President Biden had a face-to-face meeting in Bali, Indonesia. President Xi pointed out that “China and the U.S. need to have a sense of responsibility for history, for the world and for the people and explore the right way to get along with each other in the new era. The two sides should respect each other, coexist in peace, pursue win-win cooperation, and work together to ensure that China-U.S. relations move forward on the right course without losing direction or speed, still less having a collision.” This defines the orientation for the development of our bilateral relations. China and the U.S. should work together in the same direction, bring China-U.S. relations back to the track of healthy and stable growth to the benefit of the two countries and the world as a whole.

I wish the symposium a complete success. Thank you!