China-US tensions: meet us halfway to build trust and ease conflict, former Chinese vice-premier urges Biden
- Zeng Peiyan tells Hong Kong forum confrontation between the two global powers need not be inevitable
- Hong Kong chief executive appeals for new US administration to view the national security law ‘in a fair manner’
“It was completely wrong to approach and manage Sino-US relations with such cold war mentality and ideological bias,” he said. “I hope that the US can take the opportunity to change its mentality and behaviour and meet China halfway so that we can engage rather than confront each other. To do that, first we need to build mutual trust by restarting and improving the multilateral engagement mechanisms between China and the US.”
Zeng spoke at the event co-hosted by the China-United States Exchange Foundation and the China Centre for International Economic Exchanges, a Beijing-based think tank that he chairs. He argued that the US’ strategic doubts and anxieties about the threat of a rising China had contributed to plunging relations in recent years.
He said it was not inevitable for the two countries to fall into the Thucydides Trap, or the idea that war is a likely outcome when an emerging power threatens an existing major power.
“Different social systems do not mean that China and the US will inevitably head towards confrontation,” Zeng said. “China has no intention of changing the US, let alone replacing it, and the US is unlikely to change China as it sees fit.”
Joe Biden to work with allies to stop China’s ‘economic abuses’
Analysts forecast that Biden’s administration was likely to tone down some of the harsher rhetoric on China, but would seek to work with US allies and partners to grapple with the challenge of a more assertive China. But while Beijing is eager to reset relations with the new US government, observers have warned that the bipartisan political consensus in Washington has hardened against China, making a return to the China policy of former US president Barack Obama’s era unlikely.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Monday said Biden would take a “multilateral approach to engaging with China”, including on evaluating the current tariffs on Chinese goods.
“The president is committed to stopping China’s economic abuses on many fronts, and the most effective way to do that is through working in concert with our allies and partners to do exactly that,” she said.
In a pre-recorded message at the start of Tuesday’s forum, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said she hoped Biden’s government would improve the “sharply deteriorated” relations between Beijing and Washington to the benefit of Hong Kong.
“I hope the new US administration will view the national security law in Hong Kong in a fair manner,” she said. “Meanwhile, I and my 11 senior colleagues who have been sanctioned will not be intimidated. We will continue to steadfastly, dutifully and lawfully carry out our duties to safeguard our country’s national sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity.”
“We will not see a swift removal of tariffs on China,” she said. “The political climate in the United States regarding China, both in Congress and with the American public, has darkened over the past year. He and his team will not want to appear soft on China.”
