Photo: Courtesy of the Chinese Embassy in the United States
Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang said in a video address at the opening ceremony of the 25th Harvard College China Forum on Saturday that China and the United States should sever the current cold bilateral relations by dialogue.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Harvard College China Forum, a student-led conference that brings together some of the world’s most prominent thought leaders to discuss challenges, trends and issues affecting China. The theme of this year’s forum is “Extraordinary Times” and nearly 600 students, teachers and experts from Harvard University, as well as foreign Chinese students in the United States and business magnates from China and the United States States attended the forum, according to the Xinhua news agency. .
In his video speech, Qin pointed out that Harvard currently has more than 1,000 Chinese students, which is its largest international student body and a living example of social and cultural exchanges between China and the United States. However, China-US relations now face a bleak and complex future. “Dark clouds of misunderstanding and miscalculation are gathering, and the solid ice of the so-called new Cold War is solidifying,” Qin said.
Recently, China and the United States have clashed over issues such as the Taiwan question and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. On April 5, the Biden administration approved its second arms sale to the Taiwanese authority in two months, an estimated $95 million package including equipment and services to maintain the missile defense system that the United States United had exported to the island. On April 9, US Senator Josh Hawley introduced the Taiwan Arms Export Act, which would expedite the delivery of critical weapons to Taiwan, US media reported.
Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called on China to pressure Russia to end its military operation in Ukraine during the Atlantic Council in Washington on April 13.
Addressing the issues, Qin said the Ukraine crisis has prompted people to rethink the relationship between great powers and the international order. Qin stressed that the two sides should conduct more extensive, in-depth, frank and open exchanges and dialogues, and use the power of truth to break down misunderstandings and prejudices, stubborn political correctness and the current frosty relationship that serves no purpose. not interest. of both countries and runs counter to public opinion on both sides.
Qin expressed the hope that the forum would bring another round of brainstorming and help dispel the dark clouds of misunderstanding and misjudgment and that every forum participant would become an icebreaker.
“I think what Ambassador Qin meant was first and foremost that China and the United States should promote their relationship through dialogue and cooperation rather than confrontation,” said Xin Qiang, deputy director. from the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, to the Global Times on Sunday. “Secondly, it is inevitable that two major countries will have disputes. But the two sides should try to cooperate through communication, rather than imposing unilateral sanctions or penalties or challenging each other’s core interests to coerce the other party to submit.
Experts believe that Qin’s words reflect that on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the United States should not force China to be in perfect agreement with the United States. But what is more important is whether China and the United States can work together through cooperation and consultation to do something meaningful for the international community and global governance, to defuse conflict and maintain peace and stability while respecting everyone’s interests and concerns.
Huang Ping, Chinese consul general in New York, also attended the forum on Saturday. During his speech, Huang said that “although there is competition between China and the United States, the scope of cooperation is far greater than that of competition, and in many ways it is the cooperation that makes China and the United States achieve a leap forward in their respective relations.” international competitiveness. »
Huang noted that the most significant event in international relations over the past 50 years has been the reopening and development of China-US relations, which has benefited both countries and the whole world. He added that the most important event in international relations over the next 50 years will be for China and the United States to find the right way to get along.
Using a proverb, Huang said China and the United States should not “learn from spiders that make their own webs, but learn from bees that make honey together.”
