Visit will give US legislators chance to review their anti-China tirade: China Daily editorial

That Beijing has given the nod to a bipartisan delegation of US senators to visit China next week reflects its earnestness to normalize Sino-US relations through exchanges with US lawmakers, including such longtime China critics as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer who will lead the delegation.

Most anti-China laws the US has passed in recent years are based on the proposals of a few Congress members. And these laws have played a key role in undermining economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, and their political mutual trust.

Despite that, Beijing remains open to the US lawmakers' visit as it believes it will help the bipartisan delegation to better understand China and its stance on free trade, and contribute to normalizing bilateral relations. Beijing believes US Congress has passed so many anti-China laws because the legislators lack firsthand knowledge about China, making it easier for them to be influenced by a few diehard China hawks in Washington, who have exploited Congress for their personal gains at the cost of the US' national interests.

The fact that about 40 US lawmakers have visited the Taiwan island over the past year, violating the one-China principle and the three Sino-US joint communiques, shows the extent to which Congress' agenda has been hijacked by the self-seeking lawmakers. Such irresponsible moves, along with the anti-Beijing laws, have shaken the political foundation of Sino-US ties. Yet the hustlers in Congress have realized it is impossible to achieve their ultimate goal of "decoupling" the Chinese and US economies.

And that explains why the US side has taken the initiative to repair bilateral relations.

Several key members of the Joe Biden administration have visited China since June, and different solution-oriented exchange mechanisms are being worked out to remove the restrictions on the economic, financial, trade and technology sectors, including those proposed by Schumer and some of his delegation members.

Schumer has made the development of artificial intelligence one of his top policy priorities and was one of the main backers of the CHIPS and Science Act, which was passed last year. As such, he is expected to review the impacts of the US law on bilateral trade and the prospects of Sino-US cooperation on AI during his visit.

According to his office, Schumer plans to emphasize the need for reciprocity in Sino-US trade in order to "level the playing field for American workers", and focus on maintaining the US' advantage in advanced technologies, so as to safeguard the US' national security.

But the Democratic leader and his colleagues should be reminded that reciprocity should be based on fairness and mutual respect, and the US should not use its advantage in high-tech to bully China and debilitate its high-tech sector.

The US can never feel safe by making China feel insecure.