U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with China’s President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on April 26, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday met U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing and said China and the U.S. should be partners rather than rivals and should help each other succeed rather than hurt each other.
“This year marks the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and the United States. Over the past 45 years, the relationship has gone through wind and rain, and the two sides can draw a few important lessons: China and the United States should be partners rather than rivals; help each other succeed rather than hurt each other; seek common ground and reserve differences rather than engage in vicious competition; and honour words with actions rather than say one thing but do another,” President Xi Jinping was quoted saying by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China.
Mr. Xi said China is happy to see a prosperous and thriving U.S. and he hopes that the U.S. can also look at China’s development in a positive light. “I’ve said many times before that the planet is big enough to accommodate the common development and respective prosperity of China and the U.S. China is happy to see a confident, open, prosperous and thriving U.S. We hope the U.S. can also look at China’s development in a positive light. This is a fundamental issue that must be addressed,” President Xi said.
He said China is willing to cooperate, but cooperation should be a two-way street and China is not afraid of competition, but competition should be about progress together instead of playing a zero-sum game. “China is committed to non-alliance, and the U.S. should not create small blocs. While each side can have its friends and partners, it should not target, oppose or harm the other.”
Mr. Xi said the Chinese saying “no progress means regress” applies to China-U.S. relations too. He said the stabilising trend in the China-U.S. relations did not come by easily and it is hoped that the two teams will continue working actively to follow through on the San Francisco vision he and President Joe Biden reached, so as to truly stabilise, improve and move forward the bilateral relations.
(The correspondent is in China at the invitation of the China Public Diplomacy Association.)
