China urges US to exercise rationality, objectivity in bilateral ties

The Chinese ambassador to the United States says Beijing expects the new US administration to exercise rationality and objectivity regarding China.

Ambassador Cui Tiankai made the remark during a China Media Group interview on Tuesday, a day after White House spokesperson Jen Psaki accused Beijing of challenging US “security, prosperity, and values in significant ways that require a new US approach.”

Psaki said, “We want to approach this with some strategic patience.”

Ambassador Cui responded by saying, “I hope the US can use its ‘patience’ to properly and objectively learn about China, about the current world and China-US ties.”

“A healthy China-US relationship should not be based on pure competition but the coexistence of competition and cooperation,” the Chinese ambassador added.

Cui also called on the new US administration to rethink the recent US policy toward China, a reference to the unusually hostile approach adopted by the former president Donald Trump administration vis-à-vis Beijing.

Under Trump, the United States’ relations with China grew increasingly tense. Washington clashed with Beijing over trade, the South China Sea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the coronavirus pandemic. Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo even openly called for regime change in China.

Trump himself spoke of a total decoupling between the United States and China.

China’s Xi offers indirect advice for new US administration

Chinese President Xi Jinping implicitly warns US President Joe Biden that he would risk a “new Cold War” if he followed in the footsteps of his predecessor, Donald Trump.

Biden, a Democrat, has not signaled that he intends to soften Republican Trump’s tough position toward China.

Under former US president Barack Obama — in whose administration Biden was vice president — the US was planning a strategic “pivot to Asia” in an apparent attempt to scale up the rivalry with Beijing.

Nevertheless, in a congratulatory tweet to Biden, Ambassador Cui said Beijing “looks forward to working with the new administration to promote sound & steady development of China-US relations and jointly address global challenges in public health, climate change & growth.”

Furthermore, in his first speech since Trump left the White House, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday indirectly advised the Biden administration to refrain from following in the footsteps of the Trump administration in relation to China.

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