China-US relations: we cannot predict or influence American domestic politics, says Chinese ambassador

China’s ambassador to the US, Cui Tiankai, says Beijing wants ties back on track and will not bide time treading water until the election

He told a Brookings Institution webinar that competition did not justify confrontation and the US should learn to live with a rising China

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Cui Tiankai, China's Ambassador to the United States. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:00pm, 20 Aug 2020Updated: 10:23pm, 20 Aug 2020

China had no interest in influencing the upcoming US presidential election and did not want to waste its time waiting until after the election before managing ties with the United States, Beijing’s envoy said in the latest appeal to push bilateral relations back on track.

Cui Tiankai, who has been China’s ambassador to the US since 2013, said Beijing was ready to work with the current US administration “any time anywhere” to reset the relationship and discuss cooperation in the post Covid-19 era.

“Let me make it very clear here, we are not waiting for anything and we are never willing to waste time in waiting. Besides, American domestic dynamics is well beyond what we can predict or influence. We have no intention or interest to get involved,” Cui said.

The remarks were made in a webinar to the Brookings Institution last week and a transcript of Cui’s keynote speech was published by the embassy on Thursday. The comments came amid increasingly precipitous tensions between the two powers over trade, technology, Hong Kong, the South China Sea and ideology.

Blame has been cast by US officials, including FBI director Christopher Wray, that Beijing is increasing its ability to influence the election.

A group of senior Chinese diplomats has been delivering conciliatory remarks since the end of June, calling for both countries to engage at all levels in dialogue to stop the escalation and work out a road map for a future relationship. The US has not directly responded while continuing its containment policy on China over social media, security and Hong Kong.

“We look forward to positive responses from the US side,” said Cui, a veteran diplomat who, unlike some of his Wolf Warrior diplomatic colleagues, disagreed in March with a conspiracy theory about the US military and the origin of the coronavirus.