Ex-envoy: bilateral ties a must

Max Baucus said the United States and China need to settle their differences so that they can cooperate on a wide range of important issues.

"We need each other, and we need to work with each other," said Baucus, a former US ambassador to China. "The more we do, the more we prosper, the more we grow and the more people in the two countries can work on things that are important to them — jobs, food on the table, clean air, clean water and kids' education," he said.

Baucus, who served as US ambassador to China from 2014 to 2017, said his principle for bilateral relations is "being patient, positive and persistent".

The former diplomat spoke to China Daily on Friday on the sidelines of the 2019 Penn Wharton China Summit, an annual discussion about China's socioeconomic development and its interactions with the US, organized by students at the University of Pennsylvania.

Baucus said he is confident about the future of bilateral ties.

"I think the two countries will work out (their differences)," he said. "Why? Because they have to!"

Baucus added that the two nations must also enhance mutual trust and understanding.

"If we realize all that, and realize we are all alike — Chinese people are just like American people — the more we are going to realize that we have to work together," he said.

He also said China's recent passage of a law to allow more foreign investment is "a step in the right direction", adding that he is looking forward to seeing it fully implemented.

Baucus said that every year there are about 3 million Chinese tourists visiting the US, and more than 300,000 Chinese students are studying in the US.

"Unfortunately, the reverse is not true; there are very few American students going to study in China, and not very many American tourists visit China," he said. "America is a bit insular; we don't travel as much as we should. One suggestion for Americans is to just get out, travel, go to China, feel it, taste it, see it, smell it, eat the stinky tofu, and you will find Chinese people are just wonderful," he said.

Baucus said mutual respect is also vital. He said that US and China are different in some aspects.

"America is not going to change China, but we have to respect each other and not take advantage of each other," he said.

Baucus said he hopes the two nations can improve cooperation on climate change, global health and many other areas.

From 1978 to 2014, Baucus was a US senator from Montana. He served in the House of Representatives from 1975 to 1978, and in the Montana House of Representatives from 1973 to 1974.