Mutual respect key to China-U.S. ties
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail
Xinhua, September 29, 2011
Chinese Ambassador to the United States Zhang Yesui on Wednesday called on China and the U.S. to respect each other's core interests so as to advance bilateral relations.
Zhang was speaking at a reception held at the Chinese Embassy to celebrate the 62nd anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. It was attended by about 600 guests, including Acting U.S. Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank, Deputy Secretary of State William Burns and Assistant Secretary of Energy David Sandalow.
Recalling the great achievements that China had made in the past 62 years, Zhang stressed there was still a long way to go for China to realize modernization, as it faced a number of challenges.
The Chinese diplomat said China was devoted to shifting the mode of its economic development and placing more emphasis on the quality and efficiency of the development in order to continue to raise the living standard of its people by enabling them to share the fruits of the development. At the same time, China was firmly committed to the road of peaceful development.
On China-U.S. relations, Zhang said China-U.S. ties had become one of the most important relationships in the world despite the ups and downs in the past four decades.
During his successful visit to the United States in January, China's President Hu Jintao reached an important consensus with U.S. counterpart Barack Obama on constructing a cooperative partnership on the basis of mutual respect, mutual benefit and win-win results. The two leaders agreed that a stable and progressive China-U.S. relationship not only benefited the two states and their peoples, but also contributed to the peace and development of Asia and the world as a whole, Zhang said.
The ambassador added the two sides should earnestly implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, through abiding by the principles of the three joint communiques and the U.S.-China Joint Statement, respecting each other's core interests, and dealing properly with differences and sensitive issues, especially the Taiwan issue. These were the principles that both sides should adhere to in building and shaping their relationship in the 21st century, he said.
Commerce secretary Blank highly praised China's social and economic development achievements in the past 62 years, while acknowledging the two countries were increasingly interdependent due to the fast development of bilateral relations. China-U.S. cooperation was critical to solving many issues, such as boosting the development of the world economy and fighting climate change.
China and the United States were now each other's second largest trading partner, and China was the largest export market for American goods outside North America, she said, adding she hoped the China-U.S. trade and economic relations would be further enhanced through existing consultation mechanisms.
Burns, the deputy secretary of state, lauded the successful Hu's visit, and the visit to China by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in August. The two sides also held another round of fruitful Strategic and Economic Dialogue this year, which, together with the exchange of visits by top officials, injected new vigor into the China-U.S. relationship. The people-to-people exchanges between the two sides were also increasing. And the U.S. expected a visit to Washington by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping next year.
Burns reiterated that the United States welcomed a strong, prosperous and successful China to play a bigger role in international affairs. He believed the cooperation between the two countries would surely benefit both nations as well as the world, despite their differences on certain issues.
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)