(2023.1.11, Grand Rapids)

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

Good afternoon. It is my great pleasure and honor to attend the luncheon hosted by the World Affairs Council of Western Michigan. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our friends in World Affairs Council of Western Michigan for your support to the development of China-US relations.

We are going to celebrate the Chinese New Year in ten days’ time. I would like to take this opportunity to extend the new year greetings to all our friend. Wish you all good health and a prosperous new year of the rabbit. Rabbits symbolize kindness, wisdom and good luck in China. Today, China-US relations are facing many challenges, and we need both good will and wisdom more than any other time to promote the healthy and stable development of our bilateral relationship.

The motto of the World Affairs Council of Western Michigan is “To change the world, first know the world”. For China and the United States, an objective and rational understanding of each other is crucial.

The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China held in last October elected a new central leadership with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, drew up a grand blueprint for the Chinese people to build a modern socialist country in all respects. The central task of the Party and the Chinese people is now to make concerted efforts to realize the Second Centenary Goal of building China into a modern socialist country in all respects and to advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization.

Chinese path to modernization means that the 1.4 billion Chinese people will stick to socialism with Chinese characteristics, continue to create a better life and achieve common prosperity for all with their hard work. We have built a moderately prosperous society in all respects, eradicated absolute poverty for the first time in the country’s history, and in a span of a few decades’ time China has grown from a poor, weak, and backward agricultural country to the world’s second largest economy. China has fed nearly 20% of the world’s population with only 9% of the world’s arable land, and has created a middle-income group of more than 400 million. Of course at the same time, China’s per capita GDP is just over 12,000 US dollars, and its Human Development Index ranks behind more than 70 countries in the world. We need to make the economic pie bigger and share it well through our own efforts to achieve more balanced and high-quality development and meet the growing needs of our people for a better life. To this end, China will stay committed to comprehensively implementing the new development concept, pushing forward the socialist market economy reform, giving full play to the decisive role of market in resources allocation, adhering to the concept of green, low-carbon development, and harmonious coexistence between man and nature, and constantly promoting high-quality development and fostering new development paradigm.

China will further conduct high-level opening up, continue to improve the business environment, foster greater economic vitality and create new opportunities for development. To ensure greater success in economic and social development in China, we must continue to follow the people-centered approach, inspire and unleash the innovative strength of 1.4 billion Chinese people for overall prosperity and common prosperity.

Chinese path to modernization is a modernization that pursues peaceful development. China is committed to deepening and expanding global partnerships based on equality, openness and cooperation. China advocates the practice of true multilateralism, and works to build a community with a shared future for mankind to together deal with various global challenges, safeguard world peace and promote common development. 

The world today is at a new phase of turbulence and transformation. This is an era full of challenges and also one full of hopes. Major countries need to lead by example in making the world a better place. How they engage one another bears on the future of humanity. Sino-US relationship is the most important bilateral relations in the world. However, the United States now defines China as the most serious long-term geopolitical challenge. The reality of China-U.S. interdependence is ignored; the history of our win-win cooperation is misrepresented; channels of dialogue and communication were put aside. Some people try every means to demonize China. Some people are obsessed with staging “a new cold war” . The China-US relations are at a low point since the establishment of diplomatic ties, bringing tremendous uncertainty to the future of our two peoples and to countries around the world. The crux of the matter boils down to how the United States perceives China, the world and itself. Here, I would like to emphasize the following points:

First, regarding the China-U.S. relations, the so-called “democracy versus authoritarianism” is completely a false narrative. 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. According to the results of an international survey conducted by Harvard University that has been run 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 a country themselves to judge whether a system is good or not, democratic or not, and whether the  human rights are respected or not. Dismissing other forms of democracy simply because they are different from one's own is in itself undemocratic.

Some people in the United States hope to imitate the containment and suppression of the Soviet Union and do the same to China. They wish to contain China through geopolitical games such as the "Indo-Pacific Strategy". Their words and deeds are doomed to fail. China is not the former Soviet Union, and the world is not what it used to be. The Cold War mentality has long been outdated in the 21st century, and the old Cold War dream should have been awakened long ago.

Second, the economic and national development of China and the U.S. is not a zero-sum game of you win I lose. 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 want to expand investment and operations in China. This reflects the clear choice of the people and the market. There is of course economic competition among countries, but competition should be about learning from each other to become one’s better self, bringing out the best in each other 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. 

Third, China is not an enemy or threat to the United States. Traditional Chinese philosophy believes that "all living things may grow side by side without harming one another, and different roads may run in parallel without interfering with one another." Nowadays China has always looked at differences with an open mind, accepted differences with mutual respect, and actively pursued "harmony in diversity". What the Chinese people want to see most is peace and stability. They are willing to work with other countries to promote the common values of humankind of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom. China seeks its own development through resolutely safeguarding world peace and development, and also through its own development seeks to better safeguard world peace and development.

China never seeks to export its development path, its social system or ideology. For 70-plus years since the founding of the People’s Republic, China has never provoked a war, occupied one inch of foreign soil, started a proxy war, or joined any military bloc. China has the best peace record among the world’s major countries. China is committed to not seeking hegemony, expansion, coercion or sphere of influence. China never aims to crowd out or replace the United States. China’s development relies on the hard work of the Chinese people, and on the development concept of openness, inclusiveness, and win-win cooperation. We never resorted to aggression or plunder, nor colonization or exploitation. That itself is the greatest contribution China makes to the cause of world peace, development and progress. Some people project China as a hypothetical enemy just because of China's relatively fast economic development, and the so-called “threat inflation” ensues. This is typical excessive anxiety and is completely irrational and unnecessary. 

Fourth, both China and the United States are major stakeholders in a community with a shared future for mankind. As two major countries, the development of relations between China and the US not only concerns the welfare of the Chinese and American people, but also directly affects the peace, stability and prosperity of the world. The world today is not peaceful and tranquil. With various global challenges emerging one after another, China and the U.S. shoulder great responsibilities in maintaining world peace and leading the recovery of the world economy. Global issues such as fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, tackling climate change, non-proliferation, and resolving regional hotspots could not be properly and effectively addressed without coordination and cooperation between China and the U.S.. It is obvious that the Sino-US relations have long gone beyond bilateral scope and carry implications for the whole world. The international community generally expects China and the United States to play a leading role, shoulder the responsibilities of major countries, keep their bilateral relations stable and advance global cooperation.

Fifth, both sides should respect and accommodate each other's core interests and major concerns. Here, I would like to focus on the Taiwan issue. Taiwan question is at the very core of China’s core interests, and one-China principle forms the bedrock of the political foundation of China-U.S. Relations. Taiwan has been an inalienable part of China's territory since ancient times. Although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have not yet been reunified, the fact that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and same China has never changed and cannot be changed. China's sovereignty and territory have never been divided. Just as America will never allow Hawaii or Florida to be split from the whole country, anyone that seeks to split Taiwan from China will be violating the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation, and the Chinese people will absolutely not let that happen! We hope to see and remain committed to maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and will continue to do the utmost to promote the peaceful reunification of the motherland. "Taiwan independence" separatist activities are the biggest threat to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. To maintain peace across the Taiwan Strait, we must unswervingly oppose and stop "Taiwan independence." It is hoped that the US will match its deeds with words, abide by the one-China principle and the three Sino-US joint communiques, respect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and respect the common aspiration of the 1.4 billion Chinese people to realize the reunification of the motherland.

Ladies and gentleman, dear friends, 

In November last year, President Xi Jinping and President Biden held the first face-to-face meeting in Bali in three years. President Xi emphasized that China-U.S. relations should not be a zero-sum game where one side out-competes or thrives at the expense of the other. China-U.S. interactions should be defined by dialogue and win-win cooperation, not confrontation and zero-sum competition. And China-US relations should be brought back to the right track of healthy and stable development in accordance with the three principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation. 

The candid and in-depth communication between the two heads of state was constructive and strategic. Both sides valued the global significance of Sino-US relations, both emphasized the importance of exploring and establishing guiding principles for Sino-US relations, and both hoped that bilateral relations would stop sliding and stabilize soon. They agreed to effectively manage and control differences and promote practical cooperation. President Biden once again reiterated his commitment to "Five Noes"  (That the U.S. does not seek a new Cold War; does not seek to change China's system; that the revitalization of its alliances won't be against China; the U.S. does not support "Taiwan independence", does not look for conflict with China), and further stated that the US does not support "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan", does not seek to use the Taiwan issue as a tool to contain China, and the US has no intention of seeking "decoupling" from China, neither obstructing China's economic development, nor enclosing China.

Facts have proved time and again that China and the United States are second to none among major countries in terms of close people to people ties and deeply intertwined interests. China and the United States cannot decouple, or sever the supply chains between them. Under the new situation, the common interests of China and the United States are not reduced, but increased. Non-conflict, non-confrontation, and peaceful coexistence are in their common interests; deepening economic integration and benefiting more from each other's development are also common interests; boosting the global economy, tackling climate change, and resolving regional hotspots are common interests between China and US.

President Xi Jinping once said, "In the past 50 years, one of the most important events in international relations has been the restoration and development of Sino-US relations, which has benefited both countries and the world. In the next 50 years, the most important thing in international relations is that China and the United States must find the right way to get along." We believe that the two great peoples of China and the United States will surely be able to gather strength to advance and jointly create a bright future for China and the United States. The vast earth can fully accommodate both China and the United States’ development, and the two countries can cooperate with each other and prosper together.

Thank you.