Envoy: Head-of-state interactions offer 'irreplaceable strategic guidance' for US-China ties

Beijing's top envoy in Washington has said that interactions between the heads of state provide "irreplaceable strategic guidance" for China-US ties, expressing hope that this week's summit will be a "successful one" that will chart the "right course" for future relations.

At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, US President Donald Trump is visiting China from Wednesday to Friday.

In an interview with Newsweek published on Tuesday, Ambassador Xie Feng said that with the joint efforts of both sides, the summit will hopefully see the two countries expand cooperation and properly manage differences, while exploring ways to get along in the "new era" based on mutual respect and peaceful coexistence.

"In an increasingly turbulent world, the strategic value of China-US relations becomes more prominent," Xie said. "A stable and constructive China-US relationship not only serves the fundamental interests of both our peoples, but also meets the shared expectation of the international community."

On the Taiwan question, Xie said that he believed the American people, who faced the danger of division and had a civil war in the past, can understand China's will and determination to safeguard national unity.

The Chinese side urges the US side to commit to the one-China principle, the three China-US joint communiques with concrete actions, make the right choice as early as possible, fundamentally remove the biggest obstacle to China-US relations, which is the Taiwan question -- a burden that risks dragging the two countries into confrontation and conflict, and open up broader room for developing bilateral ties, Xie said.

Xie also said that history has proven once and again that a tariff war or trade war produces no winner, damages the interests of both sides, and hurts the whole world.

He noted that under the guidance of the two leaders, China and the United States have reached a series of common understandings through economic and trade consultations, and have stabilized bilateral economic and trade relations.

"This has not come easily and should be cherished. But it is still far from enough. We hope the US side will move further ahead and completely remove the unilateral tariffs and other restrictive measures," he said.

In addressing concerns about the ability of the two nations to properly manage competition, Xie said competition between the United States and China should be viewed as a "track-and-field race toward mutual excellence" rather than a "zero-sum boxing match".

"Let our two countries compete to offer more public goods to the world, to better help developing nations reduce and eliminate poverty, and to contribute more to the sustained and inclusive development of the global economy," the envoy said.

"This is the kind of competition all parties wish to see," he added.

Turning to the fentanyl issue, Xie noted that the fentanyl crisis in the US was not created by China, but "out of the humanitarian spirit and for the sake of China-US friendship", China is providing assistance to combat the "common enemy of humanity".

He noted the current US administration has strengthened legislation, law enforcement and regulatory control to combat fentanyl, and the number of fentanyl-related deaths in the US has dropped by 37.5 percent, to which China also made important and positive contributions.

He urged Washington to appreciate and cherish China's goodwill, view bilateral cooperation outcomes in a just manner, stop shifting the blame for the fentanyl issue, avoid imposing alternative tariffs as substitutes for fentanyl-related tariffs, and remove China from the list of so-called "major drug source countries" as soon as possible.

On artificial intelligence, Xie said that the world does not want to see an "Iron Curtain" in AI, nor attempts at technological enclosure, let alone a Star Wars-style rivalry.

"China-US coordination on AI bears on the future of both our countries and the entire humanity. We hope the US side will work with us in the same direction, to enhance dialogue, manage competition and conduct cooperation, so that AI will become a new frontier for China-US cooperation and a new ladder for human progress," Xie said.