China and US should focus on what really matters
- By Cui Tiankai
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E-mail China Daily, September 2, 2015
In Africa, there is no competition over who is a better partner of African countries. If China and the United States can work effectively together and contribute to the peace and prosperity of this continent, both will be better partners of African countries. In the fight against Ebola last year, China launched the largest emergent humanitarian-assistance action in its history, and worked closely with the United States and other international partners. This set a great model of cooperation between our two countries, which can be applied to many other important areas.
Even on those controversial issues, cooperation - instead of confrontation - is key to finding solutions. The United States admits that it has no territorial claim in the South China Sea and basically shares the same goal as China - keeping sea-lanes safe and open for business. We hope the United States will play a constructive role in creating a supportive atmosphere for the peaceful settlement of the disputes through negotiations by the countries directly involved.
China is a major victim of cyberattacks. A large portion of such activities originate from foreign countries. Cyberattacks are usually conducted anonymously and across borders, making them hard to trace back to the source. Unfounded accusations or megaphone diplomacy will be nothing but counterproductive. If we work together rather than separately on these issues, there is certainly a lot more to achieve.
Furthermore, the Chinese Embassy is holding a photo exhibition of China-US cooperation during World War II. It relives the profound friendship that China and the United States fostered in fighting fascists side-by-side more than seventy years ago. Seven decades is just a short span of time in human history. Vicissitudes in history do not stand in the way of closer cooperation between our two countries on major issues concerning the future and destiny of mankind. Such cooperation has become even more essential and necessary in the twenty-first century.
In this context, good habits of cooperation need to be fostered: never lose focus, stick to shared goals and interests, accommodate each other's legitimate concerns, benefit from each other's wisdom, overcome obstacles that hold us back-and most importantly - prevent our differences from dominating the agenda of the bilateral relationship. President Xi Jinping will pay his first state visit to the United States in September. We hope that his meetings with US President Barack Obama will give further guidance to the building of a new model of major country relations between our two great nations, and bring greater benefits to our two peoples.
The author is China's ambassador to the United States. The article was first published in The National Interest.
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