US must change attitude toward China before any talks: Diplomat
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A former Chinese diplomat says the US failure to understand China’s rise was the main obstacle to improving bilateral ties between the two sides.
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Chinese and US flags flutter near The Bund, in Shanghai, China July 30, 2019 (Reuters)
Unless the United States fundamentally changes its attitude toward China, there’s no point in talks on ways to safeguard the relationship, a veteran Chinese diplomat considered, as reported by Bloomberg.
"China-US relations are very much strained," indicated Xu Bu, head of the China Institute of International Studies, a think tank affiliated with the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
"One of the most important causes is that the United States is worried that China may surpass it," Xu said.
The former envoy to Chile and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations pointed out that the US failure to understand China’s rise was the main obstacle to improving bilateral ties between the two sides.
"If the overall misperceptions cannot be properly addressed, if the view that China needs to be contained is not going to be readjusted, any crisis communication or crisis management won’t help," the former Chinese diplomat said at a press briefing Wednesday in Beijing.
In late March, the Biden administration’s top Asia adviser, Kurt Campbell, claimed that attempts to protect ties between the US and China from deteriorating severely had so far been fruitless.
"The Chinese have been reluctant to engage in discussions around confidence-building or crisis communications hot lines," Campbell claimed.
Tensions mounted again this month between the two countries after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met made a provocative visit to the US and met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, prompting China to condemn the talks and stage three days of military drills around Taiwan.
Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing, underlined on Wednesday that China would "take resolute measures to foil any external intervention."
Read more: Tsai-McCarthy meeting places in US sanctioned by China
