By Lee Seong-hyon
Around the same time that China's Politburo member Yang Jiechi had an article printed, Foreign Minister Wang Yi articulated China's position on the current discord between the U.S. and China, in a Q&A format interview with the state-run news agency, Aug. 5. To start off, Wang pronounced that the current U.S.-China relationship was at its "gravest phase" since the establishment of diplomatic relations. To date, this stands as among the most negative diagnoses of U.S.-China relations from the Chinese government.
Wang, however, said China opposes a "new Cold War" between the U.S. and China, which is one of the dominant narratives defining the current bilateral status. For instance, Henry Kissinger observed that the U.S.-China relations were "on the foothills of a new Cold War."
Wang stressed that China is not the same as the Soviet Union that the United States confronted during the Cold War. Wang argued that China doesn't harbor any ambition to become a "second America" to replace the United States.
He put forward conditions regarding how the U.S. and China can mend ties. The most important principle, according to Wang, is that both the U.S. and China should accept each other as they are, without trying to change the other's political system. "That is neither necessary nor possible," he said.
When it comes to the much-talked-about "decoupling," Wang said such an approach by the U.S. was "like seeking fish on the edge of a tree" and would incur more damage to the United States than to China.
Specifically, Wang proposed a four-pillar "framework" to manage U.S.-China relations. First, both sides should avoid collisions by setting a "clear bottom line." Second, the U.S. should abandon the illusion that it can "change" China. Third, the U.S. should not pursue decoupling. Fourth, the U.S. and China need to cooperate on global affairs and abandon a zero-sum mindset.
Chinese Ambassador to Washington, Cui Tiankai, also penned a column on U.S.-China relations in Politico, July 30. He claimed that China's U.S. policy stands unchanged, arguing China was still "willing to grow China-U.S. relations with goodwill." He also said that the recent closure of the U.S. Consulate General in Chengdu was "merely a legitimate response" based on the principle of reciprocity, which is consistent with diplomatic practices and a due right of all sovereign nations. During a Brookings Institution webinar Aug. 13, Cui stressed the need for the same tone of seeming reconciliation, but added: "The fundamental question for the China-US relationship is whether the United States is ready to accommodate China and live with a country with a different history, culture and system."
So far, we have examined the statements of three senior Chinese officials who sent out similar messages to the United States at around the same time. First of all, it is notable that all three figures avoided direct criticism of the Trump administration, but attributed "the fundamental cause" of the worsening U.S.-China relations to "some political forces" in the U.S. who harbor "prejudice and hostility" toward China. However, there is a difference among them on what they emphasized and their intended audience. Yang, for instance, emphasized the importance of bilateral cooperation, by focusing on history. Wang, primarily pointed out the "U.S. absurdity," seen from China's point of view. Meanwhile, Cui, who is China's point man in Washington, executed public diplomacy to the American audience.
When the three top Chinese diplomats' messages came out, some observers hastily interpreted them as China's act of "appeasement." But that is not the case, as we examined. After all, what counts is whether the Chinese government's message through them means a change in its policy toward the U.S. The answer is no. Because a week before Wang gave the interview on U.S.-China relations, he harshly criticized the U.S. in a telephone conversation with the French foreign minister, July 28, describing the United States as "the greatest destroyer of international order," and characterized American behavior as "brutal," "reckless," "tyrannical" and "conspiracy-driven." Cui then warned about the "resurgence of McCarthyism" in the United States.
Taken together, to the U.S., China sent a message on the need for dialogue, while harshly criticizing the U.S. to other countries, in an apparent effort to dissuade them from joining the U.S.-led "anti-China" bloc. From this angle, it could be construed that what China is doing is engaging in information warfare, so as to shape Washington's perceptions and actions, while also engaging in public-opinion warfare to undermine America's image in the world.
Lee Seong-hyon (sunnybbsfs@gmail.com), Ph.D., is director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the Sejong Institute.
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Wang, however, said China opposes a "new Cold War" between the U.S. and China, which is one of the dominant narratives defining the current bilateral status. For instance, Henry Kissinger observed that the U.S.-China relations were "on the foothills of a new Cold War."
Wang stressed that China is not the same as the Soviet Union that the United States confronted during the Cold War. Wang argued that China doesn't harbor any ambition to become a "second America" to replace the United States.
He put forward conditions regarding how the U.S. and China can mend ties. The most important principle, according to Wang, is that both the U.S. and China should accept each other as they are, without trying to change the other's political system. "That is neither necessary nor possible," he said.
When it comes to the much-talked-about "decoupling," Wang said such an approach by the U.S. was "like seeking fish on the edge of a tree" and would incur more damage to the United States than to China.
Specifically, Wang proposed a four-pillar "framework" to manage U.S.-China relations. First, both sides should avoid collisions by setting a "clear bottom line." Second, the U.S. should abandon the illusion that it can "change" China. Third, the U.S. should not pursue decoupling. Fourth, the U.S. and China need to cooperate on global affairs and abandon a zero-sum mindset.
Chinese Ambassador to Washington, Cui Tiankai, also penned a column on U.S.-China relations in Politico, July 30. He claimed that China's U.S. policy stands unchanged, arguing China was still "willing to grow China-U.S. relations with goodwill." He also said that the recent closure of the U.S. Consulate General in Chengdu was "merely a legitimate response" based on the principle of reciprocity, which is consistent with diplomatic practices and a due right of all sovereign nations. During a Brookings Institution webinar Aug. 13, Cui stressed the need for the same tone of seeming reconciliation, but added: "The fundamental question for the China-US relationship is whether the United States is ready to accommodate China and live with a country with a different history, culture and system."
So far, we have examined the statements of three senior Chinese officials who sent out similar messages to the United States at around the same time. First of all, it is notable that all three figures avoided direct criticism of the Trump administration, but attributed "the fundamental cause" of the worsening U.S.-China relations to "some political forces" in the U.S. who harbor "prejudice and hostility" toward China. However, there is a difference among them on what they emphasized and their intended audience. Yang, for instance, emphasized the importance of bilateral cooperation, by focusing on history. Wang, primarily pointed out the "U.S. absurdity," seen from China's point of view. Meanwhile, Cui, who is China's point man in Washington, executed public diplomacy to the American audience.
When the three top Chinese diplomats' messages came out, some observers hastily interpreted them as China's act of "appeasement." But that is not the case, as we examined. After all, what counts is whether the Chinese government's message through them means a change in its policy toward the U.S. The answer is no. Because a week before Wang gave the interview on U.S.-China relations, he harshly criticized the U.S. in a telephone conversation with the French foreign minister, July 28, describing the United States as "the greatest destroyer of international order," and characterized American behavior as "brutal," "reckless," "tyrannical" and "conspiracy-driven." Cui then warned about the "resurgence of McCarthyism" in the United States.
Taken together, to the U.S., China sent a message on the need for dialogue, while harshly criticizing the U.S. to other countries, in an apparent effort to dissuade them from joining the U.S.-led "anti-China" bloc. From this angle, it could be construed that what China is doing is engaging in information warfare, so as to shape Washington's perceptions and actions, while also engaging in public-opinion warfare to undermine America's image in the world.
Lee Seong-hyon (sunnybbsfs@gmail.com), Ph.D., is director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the Sejong Institute.
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