Xinhua Review: Another Step in Calibrating the Course of China US Relations | Consensus | Xinhua

BEIJING, July 14th (Xinhua) -- Another step in calibrating the course of China US relations

Xinhua News Agency reporter Gao Wencheng

On the 13th, Wang Yi, Director of the Central Foreign Affairs Office, met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at request in Jakarta, Indonesia, and stressed that the consensus of the Bali meeting between the two heads of state should be truly translated into concrete actions. Since then, Antony Blinken visited China and reached an important consensus with the Chinese side to return to the Bali agenda. When he came to Beijing, US Treasury Secretary Yellen made it clear that he would implement the instructions of the meeting between the two heads of state. The frequency of interaction between China and the United States has accelerated recently, and bilateral relations have shown a positive momentum of returning to the consensus of the two heads of state and aligning the development direction of relations.

The two heads of state met in Bali, Indonesia last year and reached a series of important consensus, pointing the way for China US relations. However, a series of erroneous words and actions by the US that harm China's interests have led to a serious deviation from the track determined by the two heads of state, seriously interfering with the agenda of dialogue and cooperation between the two sides, and seriously damaging the hard-earned momentum for improving bilateral relations. If the world gets better, the relationship between China and the United States cannot continue to deteriorate. Therefore, the Chinese side, in a responsible manner, responded positively to the US side's demand for strengthening high-level exchanges, received Antony Blinken and Yellen's visit to China, and called on the US side to go in the opposite direction with the Chinese side, implement the Bali Island Consensus of the Chinese dollar head, and jointly align the course of the giant ship of China US relations.

On September 14, 2021, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attended a congressional hearing in Washington. Shen Jizhong

The urgent task in calibrating the course of bilateral relations is to properly resolve differences, eliminate interference, and accumulate conditions for the stability of China US relations. This requires both sides to start from specific matters and resolutely prevent the "grey rhinoceros" that has a strong destructive effect on the relationship between the two countries, in order to prevent disruptive effects on the relationship between the two countries; Properly handling the "Black Swan" incident to prevent occasional incidents from escalating into new challenges in bilateral relations; Thoroughly remove the "roadblocks" that hinder the development of China US relations, rather than letting them cause trouble. The United States should fully respect China's core interests, refrain from wanton interference in China's internal affairs, refrain from damaging China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, stop suppressing China's economy, trade, science and technology, and lift illegal and unreasonable sanctions against China.

The fundamental way to calibrate the course of the relationship between the two countries is to jointly explore and establish guiding principles or strategic frameworks for China US relations, and find the correct way for the two major powers to coexist. The Chinese side has always hoped that China US relations can be healthy and stable, and believes that the two major powers can overcome all difficulties and find the correct way of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation. At present, in order to stabilize and improve the relationship between China and the United States, the US needs to reflect on the crux that has led to serious difficulties in the relationship. It is necessary to truly translate the consensus reached at the Bali meeting between the two heads of state into concrete actions, and more importantly, to effectively implement the series of commitments made by President Biden multiple times.

Implementing consensus emphasizes action.The key to the next step is to take practical actions and strive for the relationship between the two countries to return to the right track. As Liu Yawei, the director of the China program at the US think tank Carter Center, said, whether the relationship between the two countries can improve depends on the United States. "If the United States does one or two things that make China feel that the United States has sincerity, there is hope for stable bilateral relations. If China still believes that the Americans are doing one thing at a time, then the relationship cannot improve."

Frequent high-level interactions between China and the United States indicate that both sides have a need to ease tensions, which brings positive expectations for improving the relationship. This trend needs to be jointly maintained by both parties, and sincerity is a prerequisite for maintaining healthy communication. However, people have also seen that while maintaining communication with China, the United States continues to make small moves. In recent days, the US State Department has hyped up the "South China Sea arbitration case", the National Security Committee of the White House has spread false information about Chinese "hacker organizations" attacking US government departments, US military planes flying through the Taiwan Strait, and the United States has gathered NATO allies to smear China in the communique... The Wall Street Journal of the United States said that the relationship between the two countries is still fragile, and "any progress will depend on the ability of Washington and Beijing to resist taking tit for tat measures.".

This is a shot of the White House on August 16, 2022, in the capital of the United States, Washington. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Jie

The world needs a generally stable relationship between China and the United States, and whether the two countries can coexist correctly is related to the future and destiny of humanity. The Chinese side has always held sufficient sincerity in improving China US relations through dialogue. The US President's special envoy on climate issues, John Kerry, will visit China from July 16th to 19th, and both sides will exchange in-depth views on cooperation in addressing climate change; The Chinese side also maintains an open and welcoming attitude towards the visit of US Commerce Secretary Raymond to China and is in communication with the US side regarding this matter. China US relations are standing at a crossroads. If the two countries continue to interact and effectively implement the consensus reached by the heads of state, there is hope for China US relations to stop falling and stabilize, and return to the track of healthy and stable development; If the United States continues to be inconsistent in its words and actions, intensify its anti China efforts to contain China, the hard-earned dialogue window may be closed again, and it may also drag China US relations into a spiral decline or even a conflict and confrontation abyss.