Chinese FM urges bringing China-U.S. relations back on right track

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday urged the United States to return its China policy to the right track guided by reason and pragmatism, and bring bilateral relations back on the right path of healthy and stable development.

China and the United States must replace the "competitive-collaborative-adversarial" trichotomy with the three principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, Wang said at a press conference on the sidelines of the fifth session of the 13th National People's Congress.

Competition between major countries should not be the order of the day and zero-sum game is not the right choice, Wang said.

In a globalized and interdependent world, how the two countries find the right way forward and manage to get along is both a new question for humanity and a formulation that must be worked out by China and the United States together, Wang added.

Noting that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the "Shanghai Communique," Wang said China and the United States need to re-embrace the conviction that helped the two countries break the ice five decades ago, and set out on a new journey.

However, the United States is still going to great lengths to engage in intense, zero-sum competition with China, Wang said, adding that it keeps provoking China on issues concerning China's core interests, and is taking a string of actions to piece together small blocs to suppress China.

These actions not only harm the overall bilateral relations, but also undermine international peace and stability, he said. "This is not how a responsible power should act, or how a credible country does things."

As an independent sovereign country, China has every right to do what is necessary to firmly defend its legitimate interests, Wang said.

He noted that setting "democratic standards" after the US model is undemocratic.

The so-called "Summit for Democracy" held by the United States last year excluded nearly half of the countries in the world. That in itself is an assault on the spirit of democracy, and holding such a summit again would be unpopular, Wang said.

Human civilization, if compared to a garden, should be a diverse place where democracies in different countries bloom like hundreds of flowers, he noted.

Wang said meddling in other countries' internal affairs in the name of democracy would only hurt the people in those countries.

"Putting one's own system on a pedestal is not just against the spirit of democracy, but also spells disaster for democracy," he said.

On the US Indo-Pacific strategy, Wang said its real goal is to establish an Indo-Pacific version of NATO.

The US Indo-Pacific strategy is becoming a byword for "bloc politics." It seeks to maintain the US-led system of hegemony, undermine the ASEAN-centered regional cooperation architecture, and compromise the overall and long-term interests of countries in the region, Wang said.

The perverse actions run counter to the common aspiration of the region for peace, development, cooperation and win-win outcomes, and are doomed to fail, Wang noted.

Noting that the Asia-Pacific is a promising land for cooperation and development, not a chessboard for geopolitical contest, Wang said China welcomes all initiatives that meet regional realities and the needs of relevant parties, and resolutely opposes all acts that lead to confrontation and rival camps in the region.

China is willing to work with all parties to foster a broad, inclusive platform for Asia-Pacific cooperation leading to an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future, Wang said.