Opinion | Lest we forget, the US defended Chinese sovereignty through its ‘century of humiliation’

From the Burlingame treaty to the Cairo conference, the US respected Chinese rights, and bilateral ties have been at their best when diplomacy was conducted by professionals

The disgraceful trading of barbs between non-diplomats and on social media is a new low. A return to diplomatic standards is in everyone’s interest

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Published: 7:30am, 2 May 2020Updated: 8:02am, 2 May 2020

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, diplomatic relations between the United States and China are at their lowest in decades, as each continues to point fingers and criticise each other’s response.

It is hard to find a more vocal China hawk in Trump’s administration than Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, whose insistence that the G7 use the phrase “Wuhan virus” meant the group failed to release a joint statement.

China’s foreign ministry spokesmen and increasingly vocal diplomat corps are using social media to berate the US and spread conspiracy theories. This is not how US-China diplomacy was traditionally executed.

On the contrary, the most positive, stable US-China relations were when their diplomats were professionals and valued the strength of the bilateral relationship over their own political interests.

Starting in the 1840s, with China on the brink of its “century of humiliation”, several generations of devoted American diplomats and China scholars have committed the US to defending Chinese sovereignty and territorial integrity.