Xie Feng, Chinese ambassador to the US. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
The recent rhetoric about a "China threat" and calls by some US officials and lawmakers to intensify curbs on exports and investment run counter to the commitments that US President Joe Biden made in his recent summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in California, a top Chinese envoy has said.
"We hope the US side will move in the same direction with China (and) earnestly translate President Biden's positive statements and commitments into actions," said Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng, adding that backpedaling must be avoided, still less saying one thing but doing another.
Xie made the remarks during a meeting with a group of 20 young US specialists on China on Monday at the Chinese embassy in Washington.
The scholars comprise the eighth round of experts participating in the Public Intellectuals Program hosted by the National Committee on United States-China Relations. They come from institutions, including the University of California, Irvine; Johns Hopkins University in Maryland; the University of Utah; and Apple Inc.
Xie said that in recent days, some US government officials and Congress members have been "hyping up" the threat and challenge posed by China, and have openly called for continuing to curb or suppress China on the economy, trade and technology fronts in addition to adopting discriminatory and protectionist policies targeting China's electric vehicle industry.
The US needs to develop a right perception toward China, see it as a partner instead of a rival, and view China's development as an opportunity rather than a threat, he said.
In particular, Washington should earnestly respect China's sovereignty, security and development interests; abide by the one-China principle; stop arming Taiwan; and avoid interfering in the Taiwan regional elections in any way, he said.
At the San Francisco summit on Nov 15, Biden said a stable and growing China is good for the US and the whole world. He reiterated the US does not support "Taiwan independence", does not seek a new Cold War and is not looking to contain or suppress China's development, nor to decouple from China.
"San Francisco is not the finish line, but a new starting point for China-US relations," Xie said. He told the young experts that the two sides should "keep expanding the positive list and shortening the negative list".
The experts had their questions answered by the ambassador on issues including China's economy, demographic changes, Taiwan, people-to-people exchanges and the Palestine-Israel conflict, a release from the embassy said.
