Communist Party diplomat Liu Jianchao, on US visit, urges ‘correct’ understanding of China
- Liu, who leads the Chinese Communist Party’s diplomatic arm, tells an audience in New York that Beijing does not have a goal of ‘overtaking’ the US
- After a meeting with the UN secretary general, Liu is expected to visit Washington and San Francisco
As China feels the heat of Washington-led “de-risking” efforts amid Western concerns about Beijing’s economic coercion and military aggression, a senior Chinese Communist Party official is visiting the US with a mission to encourage a “correct” perception of his country.
“We’re here to promote dialogues between the governments, legislators and political parties of the two countries, as we believe communication is the only way of increasing common understanding,” Liu Jianchao, who leads the Chinese Communist Party’s diplomatic arm, said on Tuesday in New York at an event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations.
Stressing a “correct” and “good” understanding of China’s “strategic intentions”, Liu said that as the country becomes more powerful militarily and economically, its aim was to “deliver a better life for all the Chinese people”.
He said a “mutually beneficial cooperation” would be possible between the two global powers if it’s understood that China does not have “any hidden agenda” or the goal of “overtaking” the US.
After completing his engagements in New York, including a meeting with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday, Liu is expected to visit Washington before heading to San Francisco.
Since taking office in June 2022, Liu has held two meetings in Beijing with Nicholas Burns, the US ambassador to China, and visited countries in Asia, Africa and Europe.
He said Beijing would “keep its door open” and create a “market-oriented and rules-based” business environment that meets an “international standard”, hoping that, in return, Washington would keep its markets open and provide Chinese companies with “a non-discriminatory business environment”.
His remarks came after outgoing foreign direct investment in China exceeded inflows in the third quarter of 2023, the first time that has happened since 1998.
In August, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said several American companies told her China was becoming “uninvestable” and “too risky” because of new national security regulations.
But Liu said “there should not be unnecessary rhetoric” about foreign businesses leaving China because of “anti-espionage” or other “necessary” laws.
“The US has even stricter anti-espionage tools,” he said, adding that China was ready to convince foreign investors that it remained a country with “good opportunities”.
Liu has faced criticism in the West for his role in the Chinese Communist Party’s “anti-corruption” efforts and accusations of transnational repression.
On Tuesday, he said China had received help from the US Justice and Homeland Security departments in extraditing “criminal suspects” on the “basis of the US law”.
