China, US must avoid eying each other with suspicion during Trump presidency, says Beijing’s ambassador in Washington
Two nations have to work together and better understand each other for their common benefit, says envoy
China and the United States must avoid being too suspicious of each other’s strategic intentions, China’s ambassador to the United States said on Wednesday while looking ahead to the US presidency of Donald Trump.
Trump lambasted China throughout the US election campaign, drumming up headlines with his pledges to slap 45 per cent tariffs on imported Chinese goods and to label the country a currency manipulator on his first day in office.
He has also vowed to build up the US Navy in what advisers say will be a strategy to reassure countries in the Asia-Pacific worried about China’s assertive pursuit of territorial claims.
Cui Tiankai, China’s Washington envoy, told a film screening to commemorate the 1979 normalisation of US-China ties that after “a most unusual political season”, it was important to build a consensus and identify common ground.
He said both countries were already cooperating on many issues, but added: “We have to make greater efforts to promote better mutual understanding and we should be careful not to be overly suspicious about each other’s strategic intentions.