BEIJING, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Senior Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi said Friday that China and the United States need to jointly safeguard the foundation of bilateral relations and protect the friendship between the Chinese and American people.

He made the remarks in a signed article titled "Respect History, Look to the Future and Firmly Safeguard and Stabilize China-U.S. Relations," which was published Friday.

"From the outset of the normalization process, China-U.S. relations have always been based on the common understanding that both sides recognize and respect each other's different social system," said Yang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee.

He recalled that leaders and statesmen of the elder generation in China and the United States acted in the fundamental interests of the two peoples and made the political decision of historic significance with their exceptional strategic vision and political courage to rise above the differences in ideology and social systems.

Some U.S. politicians claim that in engaging and entering into diplomatic relations with China, the original U.S. purpose was to change China, and that U.S. policy of engagement with China has become a total failure, Yang said.

"Their allegations are fanfare for ideological confrontation and the Cold War mentality," Yang said. "They are nothing short of discredit to the enormous efforts and contributions made throughout past decades by people across the two societies to promote the development of China-U.S. relations."

"We need to take an attitude that is responsible to history and to the people. We need to stand up for what is right and set the record straight," he said. Enditem

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