In the morning of the November 16th, Chinese president Xi Jinping had a video conference with American president Biden. They had sufficient and in-depth exchange of strategic, overall and basic problems cared by both sides.
Xi Jinping said that currently China and America are at a crucial stage and the “global village” of all human faces multiple challenge. China and America are the two largest economy in the world and two permanent members of the security council of the UN. We need to have more exchange and cooperation to deal with our domestic affairs well and to take our international responsibilities, so as to promote the lofty cause of peace and development, which is the common wish of China and America and of people in every country as well as a common responsibility for heads of the two countries.
Xi Jinping stressed that a healthy and stable China-America relationship is required to promote the individual development of China and America, to safeguard a peaceful and stable international environment and to cope with global challenges including the climate change and the covid-19 pandemic. Both sides should seek mutual respect, peaceful co-existence and win-win cooperation. We are willing to work with Mr. President to reach agreement and to take action, so as to lead the China-America relation to develop. This is the need of people of both sides and the expectation of the international society.
Xi Jinping pointed out that an important event of the international relationship in the past 50 years is the resumption and the development of China-America relationship. And a significant issue of the international relationship in the next 50 years is China and America’s finding of correct way to treat each other. History is fair. Everything done by a politician, no matter right or wrong, will be recorded in the history. He hope that the Mr. President will give full swing to his political leadership to push the America’s policy concerning China back to being reasonable and practical.
Xi Jinping stressed that the two countries need to summarize the experience, both success and failure, of our relationship. There are three principles of how should we treat each other in a new era: the first is mutual respect. We need to respect each other’s social systems and development path; core interest and major concern as well as development rights. Specifically, we need to treat each other as equal, manage disagreement and seek common grounds while shelving off difference. The second is peaceful co-existence. The bottom line for us if no conflict, nor confrontation. The American representatives said that we could “coexist”. But in my view, we need to add more to that and the result is “coexist in peace”. The third is win-win cooperation. Our interest is deeply emerged. Cooperation is beneficial for both of us, while conflict for none. The earth is big enough for China’s and America’s separate and common development. We should stick to reciprocal interest, not zero-sum game, nor a situation with only one winner.
Xi Jinping said that there are four priorities. The first is to show the responsibilities of two major countries to lead the international cooperation to deal with prominent challenges. In this aspect, China-America cooperation may not be the cure all problems, but it’s something we must need. The global initiatives brought up by China are available to America, so China hopes the America would do the same thing. The second is that equal and reciprocal spirit is needed to push forward the exchanges of every level and every field and to inject more positive energy into China-America relationship. He would like to contact Mr. President with multiple methods to point a direction for and create new driving force for China-America relation. There are common interest in many aspects, including economy, energy, military strength, law enforcement, education, science, technology, internet, environment protection, regional affairs and so on, so we need to exchange for needed goods and to offset one’s weakness with other’s merits, so as to achieve more in our cooperation. China and America would push forward practical cooperation and solve specific problems with the support of communication channels and mechanism platform of diplomatic security, economic and trade finance and climate change. The third is to deal with disagreement and sensitive issue with constructive methods to prevent that the China-America relation would be out of control. Disagreement is nature for our relation. The key is to deal with it in a constructive way, so it won't be intensified, nor will it affect other issues. Of course, China would like to safeguard our sovereignty, safety and development interest, so we hope America would deal with it in a prudent way. The forth is to enhance the coordination and cooperation in important international affaire and regional hot spot issue and to offer more public product for the world. The world is not peaceful. China and America should work with the international society to protect peace and promote global development, so as to safeguard the fair and reasonable international order.
Xi Jinping stressed that China and America are two giant ships on the sea. Those at the helm must stick to the route despite strong wind and high waves, allowing for no yawing, low speed and collision.
Xi Jinping introduced China’s development path and strategic goal. He said that China just held the 6th plenary meeting of the 19th CPC national committee which summarized the major achievement and historical experience of the CPC in the last 100 years. During the past century, the CPC’s mission and original aspiration was to seek happiness for Chinese people and the rejuvenation for Chinese nation in which China has made great achievement, but that far from enough. When he became the president, he said that people wish for a better life which is the goal of our hard work. Chinese people’s wish for a better life is the strongest internal driving force for China’s development as well as a necessary historical tendency. Anyone who tries to stop it will be frustrated by Chinese people’s objection and it’s own lack of ability. As the leader of China, Xi Jinping faces the challenge to serve 1.4 billion Chinese people and to create a good life with them, which is a major challenge and a big responsibility. His attitude is that “I devoted my life to serve people, so as to never fail them”.
Xi Jinping said that Chinese people are peace-lovers for a long time and advocate that peace is precious. The Chinese nation never have the intention for invasion nor hegemony. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, we have never started a war, nor a conflict and never rob even a small piece of land from other countries. China has no intention to urge other countries to follow our example, in stead, we encourage other countries to find a development path suitable to their own situation.
Xi Jinping stressed that opening-up is China’s basic national policy and obvious mark. China will never change it’s resolution to expand the high-level opening-up, to share it’s development opportunities with the world and to push the global economy towards a direction that is open, inclusive, mutually beneficial, balance and with win-win cooperation. We have brought up the idea to construct a new development structure with the aim to expand the domestic market and to form a domestic and international dual circulation of a large scale and in a large scope, so as to build a market-based, legal and international business environment. This will offer a bigger market and more chances for different countries.
Xi Jinping stressed that China advocates the common value of all human which are peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom. Those who engage in the confrontation of ideological confrontation, camp division and group confrontation will make the whole world suffer. The consequence of the cold war is still a fresh memory. He hopes that the America will not take any movement to start a “new cold war”.
Xi Jinping expressed China’s principle and stance of problems relating to Taiwan. Xi Jinping stressed that the reason why the situation of Taiwan is in a round of tense is because the authority of Taiwan attempts to “seek independence by relying on U.S.” again and again, as well as because some Americans are trying to “restrict the mainland of China with Taiwan”. This is a dangerous tendency and those who involved in a dangerous act will put themselves in a dangerous situation. The One-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques are the political foundation of China-America relation. Every American government has made clear promise in this regard. The true situation of Taiwan problem and the core content of One-China Policy are that “there’s only one China in the world. Taiwan is a part of China. The government of the People’s Republic of China is the only legal government that can represent China. The unification of China is a wish of all Chinese. We are patient and are willing to spend the largest effort with the utmost sincerity to strive for the future of peaceful unification, but if separatist forces who support Taiwan to be independent provoke or force us, or even break the bottom line, we will have to take decisive measure.”
Xi Jinping highlighted that civilization is rich and colorful, so is democracy. Democracy is not a product made only for someone, so it’s not with only one mode or style in the world. Whether a country is democratic or not can only be judged by the people of that country. The action to reject a country’s democracy just because it’s form is not democratic in the first place. We are willing to exchange ideas relating to human rights on the basis of mutual respect, but we are not agree with the interference of a country’s internal affairs with human rights-related issues.
Xi Jinping said that China and America should safeguard the international system with the UN as the core as well the basic principles of the international relationship with the mission and principle of the UN charter as the principle. The multilateralism is not complete without China-America cooperation.
In term of the China-America trade and economic relation, Xi Jinping said that the essence of China-America trade and economic relation is win-win cooperation. Business is just business, so there’s no need to add politics to the trade and economy between the two countries. Both sides should aim for more achievement in the cooperation. Chinese government attaches great importance to the wish of American business and industry practitioners to ask for more convenience when they come to China, and the Chinese government has agreed to implement the upgrade version of “convenient passage”. He believe this measure can further support the trade and economy between China and America and the economic recovery of the two countries. The American government should step abusing the national security, nor let it cover to many fields to depress Chinese enterprises. China and America need to exchange ideas on macro-economic policy; support the world economic recovery and prevent financial crisis. The American government should pay attention to the influence of it’s domestic policy to other countries and take responsible macro-economic policy.
In terms of energy security, Xi Jinping said that China and America should advocate the international community to safeguard the global energy security jointly and enhance the cooperation in natural gas and new energy field, so as to work with the international society to protect the global industrial chain to be safe and secure.
In terms of the climate change, Xi Jinping pointed out that China and America once jointly support the establishment of the “Paris Agreement”. Now the two countries are transforming their economy to a green and low carbon one. The global change can be a new cooperation highlight for the two countries. He once brought up that “green mountains and lucid water are valuable assets” and “we need to protect the ecological environment the way we protect our eyes and treat the ecological environment the we treat our life.” Now, the concept of the ecological civilization is known by every household in China. China has spent hard effort to reduce the carbon emission by the largest extent in the world with the shortest time in the history. Chinese believe words must be followed by action and one’s promise must be fulfilled or it shouldn’t be made in the first place. China is still the largest developing country in the world whose prominent problem is unbalanced and inadequate development. Every country should follow the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities as well as guarantee people’s livelihood and deal with the climate change at the same time. There should be less criticizing and prevarication and more solidification and cooperation. Slogan should be outstanding, of course, but action should be the thing catch people’s attention. The developed countries should implement the historical responsibilities and obligations and maintain the stability of the policy.
In terms of public health, Xi Jinping pointed that the Covid-19 is another proof that human society is a community with a shared fate. Nothing is more important than human life. Solidarity and cooperation in the international society are the most power weapon against the pandemic. Scientific attitude is needed when cope with major pandemic, coping with the pandemic in the way to solve political problems has no merit at all. The priority of the fight against the pandemic is to eliminate the vaccine deficit and bridge the “vaccine gap”. In the early period of the last year when the outbreak of the pandemic just emerged, I brought up the idea that the vaccine for the Covid-19 should be a global public product and established an initiative for global vaccine cooperation. China is in the leading position to offer vaccine to developing countries in need. The donation from China accumulates to be more than 1.7 billion dose of vaccine. We will continue to consider the demand of developing countries and add new donation. The Covid-19 pandemic won’t be the last public health crisis faced by human. China and America initiate to establish a cooperation mechanism of global public security and of the prevention and control of communicable disease, so as to launch international exchanges and cooperation.
Biden said that the America-China relationship is the most important bilateral relationship in the world. As two major countries in the world, China and America have responsibilities for the two countries and people in the world. There should be frank and candid dialogue between the two sides to have a better understanding of each other’s intention and to be sure that the competition between the two countries is fair and healthy, not evolve into conflict. He agreed with what is said by the president Xi Jinping. The history is fair and the America-China relation must be improved, at which we couldn’t fail. China was already a major country more than 5000 years ago. We would like to reiterate that the American government has no intention to change China’s social system, to enhance alliance to oppose China nor to engage in conflict with China. The America government promise to follow the One-China Policy in a long time; to oppose “Taiwan independence” and to hope that Taiwan and Taiwan Strait would remain peace and stability. The America is willing to enhance exchanges, reduce misunderstanding and engage in mutual respect and peaceful co-existence. The two countries should also deal with disagreements in a constructive way; enhance the cooperation in fields where America and China have common interest and work together to cope with the global challenges like the pandemic and the climate, so as to enable people in our two countries to lead better life. We need to encourage the younger generation to have more exchanges and to know more about each other’s culture, so as to make the world a better place.
They changed ideas on other mutually-concerning international and regional issues like the nuclear in Iran as well as the situation in Afghanistan and Korean Peninsula.
The heads of the two countries agreed that the meeting was candid, constructive, essential and effective, conducive to better understanding of each other, to increase the positive expectation of the international society to China-America relationship and to sent strong signal to China, America and the world. Both sides agree to maintain close connection; to push the China-America relationship back to the track of healthy and stable development and to create more welfare for people in the two countries and in the world.
Other attendees of the meeting included Ding Xuexiang, Liu He, Yang Jiechi and Wang Yi.