China’s highest-ranking diplomat on Tuesday (2 February 2021) called for a push to return the U.S.-China bilateral relationship to a predictable and constructive course, but he also emphasized China’s red lines and warned that the United States should not interfere in China’s internal affairs. Some U.S. scholars believe that these arguments are not new and can hardly have a substantive effect on improving bilateral relations or restarting dialogue.
Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary-general and head of the Foreign Affairs Working Committee of the Central Committee, said in a video address to the National Committee on United States-China Relations on Monday evening U.S. Time that China is willing to work with the United States to promote bilateral relations along the lines of non-confrontation, non-conflict and mutual respect. China is willing to work with the United States to promote bilateral relations along a track of no confrontation, no conflict, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, and to “build a model of peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation among major powers.
This was the highest-ranking Chinese official to deliver a public speech on the subject of U.S.-China relations after President Biden‘s inauguration.
U.S.-China relations are at their lowest point since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1979 under the Trump administration, with friction and conflict in almost every area, including trade and commerce, science and technology, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Taiwan and the South China Sea.
In his speech, Yang blamed the deterioration of U.S.-China relations on the Trump Administration‘s tough policy toward China, which views China as a strategic adversary, saying such a policy “is a historical, directional and strategic mistake” that undermines relations between the two countries and the interests of the two peoples.
He said he “hopes the United States will transcend the old-style thinking of a zero-sum game between major powers” and work with China to “grasp the right direction of U.S.-China relations. He urged the Biden Administration not to politicize economic and trade issues and abuse the concept of national security. He said the two countries can cooperate on climate change, economic recovery and response to new epidemics, and explore ways to improve the global public health system.
Yang Jiechi said China does not seek to challenge or replace the U.S. position and has no intention to delineate its sphere of influence, but he stressed that China will defend its sovereignty, security and development interests.
He said China has never interfered in the internal affairs of the United States, and that the United States should stop interfering in China’s internal affairs and stop meddling in issues related to China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, such as Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang, which involve China’s “core interests and national dignity” and “should not be touched. .
Robert Daly, director of the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States at the Wilson Center, argued that Yang Jiechi’s speech was no different from statements made by other Chinese Communist Party officials over the past few days, and that it was a cliché that did not move the U.S.-China dialogue forward.
He said the U.S.-China relationship has long changed, but Yang Jiechi’s speech suggests that Beijing is still stuck in the seven-year-old “non-conflict,” “non-confrontation,” and “new type of major power relationship” mentality. But from Yang Jiechi’s speech, it appears that Beijing is still stuck in the “non-conflict,” “non-confrontation,” and “new type of major power relations” mindset of seven years ago; and China is blaming the U.S. side for the problems and frictions facing U.S.-China relations without any reflection or self-criticism.
The United States is critical of both the U.S. and Chinese sides, but the Chinese side is not self-critical, only critical of the U.S. side,” he told Voice of America. The impression given to the Americans is that either the Chinese side lacks sincerity, or they simply don’t listen to those Chinese policies that the U.S. side is worried about, or they don’t have any new ideas. (China) they say they want a new mechanism for dialogue, but it’s hard to have a constructive mechanism for dialogue based on these Chinese attitudes.”
University of California, Riverside sinologist Perry Link agreed that Yang Jiechi’s speech was full of “platitudes. He said the rhetoric may convince some people, but the average American, such as academics, media professionals and businessmen, who understand what is happening in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, “won’t eat [the Communist Party’s words].
The Communist Party’s promises are worthless,” he said. You can only exchange concrete actions for concrete actions, not concrete actions for promises.”
According to Lin Peirui, the U.S.-China relationship that Yang Jiechi referred to is at best “U.S.-Communist relations,” that is, the relationship between the top echelon of the Chinese Communist Party and the Biden administration, and does not represent the U.S.-China relationship in a broad sense.
Since Biden’s inauguration, senior Chinese officials have recently released some signals of hope for a “reboot” of U.S.-China relations. Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng last week urged Washington to take action to repair U.S.-China relations, and Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai called on the United States to adopt a positive and constructive policy toward China in an interview with Chinese official media, saying it is a serious mistake for the United States to view China as a strategic adversary.
Hours before Yang Jiechi’s speech, Secretary of State Blinken said in an exclusive interview with U.S. television station MSNBC that China poses a major challenge to the United States, but said the U.S.-China relationship is complex, with aspects of both hostility and competition, as well as areas where cooperation is possible.
He criticized the Chinese government for its practices in Xinjiang and Hong Kong and accused China of lacking transparency and candor regarding the new crown Epidemic. But when asked if China should be made to pay for the outbreak, Blinken did not answer directly, saying instead that he wanted to have a full understanding of the outbreak, determine responsibility and prevent a recurrence.
The Biden administration has said it will seek “new ways” to deal with Beijing with “strategic patience” and is conducting a cross-sectoral assessment of its China Policy and consulting with allies and partners.
Although the Biden administration has yet to clarify its China policy, the new administration appears to maintain some of its positions on China from the Trump administration, including acknowledging that China committed genocide and Crimes Against Humanity against the Uighurs in Xinjiang and emphasizing its rock-solid commitment to Taiwan and its contribution to maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the region as a whole.
Some analysts believe that a slap on the wrist does not ring true, and that the direction of China policy and U.S.-China relations during the Biden years will also depend largely on the posture and actions of the Chinese side.
Deb said he currently sees no optimistic developments in the U.S.-China relationship. China’s guiding ideology, its ideology, its broad goals of geopolitical competition and its international and domestic behavior will not change,” he said. (If) none of these factors change, the U.S.-China relationship will be no better, still a global all-out competitive relationship, moving toward confrontation.”
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