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China and US ‘need a new dialogue mechanism’ post-Trump to repair broken ties
- Han Fangming, vice-chairman of Chinese advisory body’s foreign affairs committee, urges both sides to focus on bottom line of no confrontation or decoupling
- Both countries should offer equal investment opportunities, reopen closed consulates and lift visa restrictions, he says
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A senior Chinese official has called for a new dialogue mechanism between China and the United States to ease the downward spiral in relations, weeks ahead of the official start of the incoming Joe Biden administration.
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Han Fangming, vice-chairman of the foreign affairs committee of China’s top political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, urged the major powers to work together to prevent a decoupling and the emergence of a new cold war, after tensions steadily intensified this year.
“Handling China-US relations requires a form of bottom-line thinking, which is that the bottom line is to not have confrontation, to not have a cold war and to not have decoupling,” Han said last weekend at the Wharton Summit, an annual China-focused event run by the University of Pennsylvania and this year held in Beijing.
“The two countries should restore their original dialogue mechanism as soon as possible and establish a new mechanism to work together to resolve the challenges and difficulties in trade, technology and cultural ties.”
Tensions have risen between the pair in recent years over a litany of issues, including trade, technology and the coronavirus pandemic. In recent months, the escalating rivalry has seen the closure of the US consulate in Chengdu after the ordered shutdown of the Chinese consulate in Houston, the ousting of journalists on both sides, and tit-for-tat sanctions and restrictions on companies and officials.
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