China News Service, July 21. According to the website of the Chinese Embassy in the United States, on July 20, local time, Qin Gang, the Chinese ambassador to the United States, attended the Aspen Strategic Security Forum and had a special session with Luce, the editor-in-chief of the US edition of the Financial Times. Fireside Chat".
During the talk, Qin Gang focused on expounding China's policy stance on whether China and the United States have entered a "new Cold War", whether China's diplomacy has abandoned "hide its strengths and bide its time", and Taiwan.
The picture shows Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang attending the Aspen Strategic Security Forum.
Image source: Website of the Chinese Embassy in the United States
Regarding whether China and the United States have entered a "new Cold War", Qin Gang said that the Cold War is a tragedy in world history, synonymous with estrangement, division, confrontation and conflict.
People are worried that the history of the Cold War will repeat itself, because some people hold the Cold War mentality and mistakenly view China as the former Soviet Union and China as a threat.
But China is not the former Soviet Union, and the CCP is not the CPSU.
The Communist Party of China wholeheartedly seeks the well-being of the people, leading the Chinese people to build China into the world's second largest economy and provide a large number of public goods to the world.
China loves peace, unswervingly follows the path of peaceful development, and actively promotes the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
Seeing China as a threat is picking the wrong opponent.
The new Cold War has only losers and no winners. It will only erect a new Berlin Wall and push the world back into turmoil and division. The consequences will be too heavy for the world to bear.
China doesn't want to fight a "new cold war", and neither do other countries.
U.S. President Biden has also repeatedly emphasized that the U.S. has no intention of seeking a "new Cold War" against China, and hopes that the U.S. will do what it says it does, not engage in ideological confrontation of "democracy against authoritarianism", engage in exclusive and confrontational geopolitical competition, and do not engage in "decoupling" "The only way to prevent the two countries from slipping into a "new cold war" and falling into the trap of hegemonic competition is to cut off supplies and not engage in an arms race.
Regarding whether China's diplomacy has given up on "keeping a low profile" and no longer has patience, Qin Gang said that one of the fundamental tasks of China's diplomacy is to safeguard national interests.
The responsibility of Chinese diplomats in the United States is to work hard to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and ensure that China-US relations are stable, controllable and constructive.
To this end, my colleagues and I have not only acted as bridges and bonds, and have widely contacted people from all walks of life in the United States, telling them the real situation of China, China's development intentions and policies toward the United States; we have also listened to various viewpoints in order to enhance respect and trust and avoid misunderstandings. misjudgment.
For words and deeds that maliciously slandered, interfered in China's internal affairs, and harmed China's interests, we, like diplomats from other countries, have resolutely fought back and safeguarded our own interests.
This does not mean that China has changed its foreign policy.
China has a history of 5,000 years, and national rejuvenation has its own clear historical logic and strong endogenous driving force. This process is irreversible.
Although the road ahead is not smooth, China has enough patience, confidence, wisdom and ability to deal with the outside world.
The question now is, are some countries patient with China's development?
Regarding the Taiwan issue, Qin Gang said that the Taiwan issue has always been the most important and sensitive core issue in Sino-US relations.
China loves peace, and we are the least willing to kill our compatriots.
We will strive to achieve the prospect of peaceful reunification with the utmost sincerity and best efforts.
To prevent the prospect of peace from being destroyed, the fundamental one is to uphold the one-China principle, which is the political foundation of China-US relations and the cornerstone of peace across the Taiwan Strait.
At present, the situation in the Taiwan Strait is tense, and the one-China principle is under threat.
In recent years, the Tsai Ing-wen authorities have refused to accept the one-China principle, and resorted to changing the U.S. approach to pursue "progressive Taiwan independence"; the U.S. side has continuously distorted and hollowed out the one-China policy, aggressively promoted the official relationship between the United States and Taiwan, sent senior officials to visit Taiwan, and sold a lot of money to Taiwan. Advanced weapons, making false statements of "military defense of Taiwan".
We will not give up non-peaceful means, not targeting the people of Taiwan, but to contain the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces, prevent external forces from interfering, and safeguard the prospect of the peaceful reunification of the motherland.
The U.S. side has repeatedly stated that it adheres to the one-China policy, does not support "Taiwan independence", and does not want conflict with China over the Taiwan issue.
China urges the US to abide by the one-China principle and the three Sino-US joint communiques, and work with China to firmly oppose and contain "Taiwan independence".
Give peace a chance and let peace prevail.
Regarding Xinjiang-related and Hong Kong-related issues, Qin Gang said that the so-called Hong Kong and Xinjiang issues are not about democracy, human rights, ethnicity or religion at all, but about fighting violence, terrorism and separatism, protecting people's lives and safeguarding national sovereignty, security, development interests.
Xinjiang cannot be turned into another "Islamic State".
After the return of Hong Kong, decolonization should be realized, patriots should govern Hong Kong, and "one country, two systems" should be stable and far-reaching.
"One country" is the premise, and "two systems" cannot be used to negate "one country", let alone split up and use Hong Kong as an outpost against mainland China.
As President Lincoln said, the house of division cannot stand.
The House of China will surely become more united and firm and stand firm.
The picture shows Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang attending the Aspen Strategic Security Forum.
Image source: Website of the Chinese Embassy in the United States
Regarding the Ukraine issue, Qin Gang said that there are complex historical and practical reasons behind the Ukraine crisis.
When dealing with the Ukrainian issue, China insists on proceeding from the right and wrong of the matter itself and makes independent judgments.
China insists that the sovereign and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected, the purposes and principles of the UN Charter should be abided by, the legitimate security concerns of countries should be taken seriously, and all efforts conducive to the peaceful resolution of crises should be supported.
China's position is objective and fair, and it is the same and similar to the position of India, Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia and other developing countries.
Some people always want to challenge China's position on Ukraine, reflecting their typical double standards on issues involving China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, including Taiwan, Xinjiang, and Hong Kong.
China is not happy about this.
At present, the influence of the Ukraine issue continues to spill over, giving rise to multiple crises in the economy, energy, food, and refugees.
The top priority now is to achieve a ceasefire and resume peace talks.
The United States and NATO should also sit down and negotiate with Russia, seek solutions on the basis of accommodating each other's legitimate concerns, and jointly build a balanced, effective and sustainable European security architecture.
Regarding the Sino-Russian joint statement, Qin Gang said that Sino-Russian relations are not aligned, confrontational, or aimed at third countries.
The Sino-Russian joint statement issued at the beginning of this year focused on the common positions of China and Russia in terms of democracy, development, security and order. Promote the democratization of international relations, advocate safeguarding the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and practice multilateralism.
In this regard, China's cooperation with any country can have no limits and no restricted areas.
If the US is willing to make joint efforts with China to this end, we certainly welcome it.
Regarding China's accession to the CPTPP, Qin Gang said that China's application to join the CPTPP shows that China will continue to unswervingly deepen reforms, expand opening up, and advance the process of Asia-Pacific economic integration.
China's final accession to the CPTPP is beneficial to all parties. It is conducive to China's expansion of opening up and high-quality development. It is conducive to CPTPP member states to share more of China's development dividends, and it is conducive to injecting strong development momentum into the Asia-Pacific and even the global economy.
The United States is sensitive to international economic negotiations, which confuses all parties.
The United States launched the "Indo-Pacific Economic Framework" to exclude specific countries and market access, tariff reductions and development cooperation that all parties care about, which will lead to division and "decoupling and breaking the chain" among countries in the region.
This framework is neither open nor inclusive, not conducive to the integrated development of the regional economy, and runs counter to the aspirations of regional countries for peaceful development and win-win cooperation.
Regarding Sino-US relations, Qin Gang finally emphasized that the current Sino-US relations have not yet escaped the dilemma created by the previous US administration, and are even encountering more and more challenges.
China attaches great importance to US President Biden's "four nonsense" statement and the US's solemn commitment to China, and hopes that the US will match its words and deeds.
The crux of the question is whether the US can accept the development and rise of a country that is historically, politically and culturally different from the US.
China and the U.S. have differences but have huge common interests. The two countries shoulder common responsibilities for world peace, security and prosperity.
At present, China-US relations are at a critical juncture, and the world is entering a new period of turbulent transition. The two countries need to cooperate to meet challenges. Is it a dead end of a zero-sum game, or a bright road for win-win cooperation?
I believe that the vast majority of people in the two countries and the world will make a wise choice.
The Aspen Strategic Security Forum is held annually by the Aspen Strategy Group in Aspen, Colorado.
This year's Aspen Security Forum was held July 19-22.