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Abandon the ‘China threat’ talk or risk upset in China-US reset, former Beijing envoy says
- Former senior diplomat Kong Xuanyou says it’s time to downplay competition to be the world’s top power
- Beijing has no ambitions to replace the United States in the world order, he says
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Su-Lin Tanin Singapore
Pushing the “China threat” line will undermine this week’s reset in the US-China relationship in San Francisco, according to former Chinese vice foreign minister Kong Xuanyou.
Speaking at an international relations forum in Singapore on Saturday, Kong said that to build on Wednesday’s summit between presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden, the two countries must put less attention on competition to be the world’s “number one” power.
“The narrative of China being a threat must be eliminated otherwise we will never progress past the consensus reached,” he said, adding that China had no intention of competing with or replacing the United States.
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“We don’t plan to be number one, we are merely competing with ourselves.
“Being number one is not the most important issue.”
Kong gave his assessment at a forum organised by the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies, the China Public Diplomacy Association and the Beijing Club for International Dialogue.
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