China’s top envoy to Washington issued a broad call for better bilateral relations, asking for more “concrete, small steps” such as faster visa processing, but stopped short of signalling whether President Xi Jinping would meet his American counterpart Joe Biden at a coming Asia-Pacific leaders summit.
Addressing a crowd of dignitaries, academics, government officials and others in the US-China orbit at his embassy on Wednesday – including Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink – ambassador Xie Feng also acknowledged China’s current economic difficulties and said Beijing had “no intention” of displacing other countries.
“While a lot has changed in China-US relations, the fact that we are interdependent has not changed,” Xie said at the start of a National Day programme that included a Julliard School recital. “Our people’s enthusiasm about greater exchanges and cooperation has not changed.
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“Our focus is to be a better self,” he added. “We have no intention to challenge, out-compete or displace anyone else.”
US President Joe Biden greets Ambassador Xie in the Oval Office of the White House on June 30. Photo: Xinhua alt=US President Joe Biden greets Ambassador Xie in the Oval Office of the White House on June 30. Photo: Xinhua>
Xie made his comments as speculation rises over whether Xi will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) leaders summit in San Francisco less than two months away. A meeting is increasingly seen as the most important step in halting the steady deterioration in bilateral relations in recent years on nearly every front.
While Biden has sent several top administration officials to Beijing in recent months and the two sides have established two working groups, which Xie lauded in his speech, it remains to be seen whether Xi and Biden will meet to solidify the bilateral engagement.
Sticking points include the apparent refusal by Washington to invite Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu to Apec. Lee is one of several officials the US sanctioned in 2020 for “undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy”.
In his first public remarks about Xi’s potential attendance at Apec, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday that Beijing was “communicating with all parties” concerning the forum.
China will “announce formally in due course”, Wang said.
Xi has absented himself from three significant international summits in recent weeks: in August, he skipped a business forum of the Brics economic group in South Africa, and this month he passed on the Group of 20 leaders summit in New Delhi and the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee has not been invited to the Apec leaders summit in San Francisco in November. Photo: AP alt=Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee has not been invited to the Apec leaders summit in San Francisco in November. Photo: AP>
Concerning Apec, Wang said China was willing to meet “international expectations to play a constructive role in the success of Apec this year”, but that Beijing expected Washington to “realise the responsibility of a host”.
Wang’s language was similar to that used in June by foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin when he called on Washington to invite Lee.
“Host economies have the responsibility to ensure the smooth participation of the representatives of all members in the meetings,” the spokesman said then. “We believe the US will deliver on its commitments and make sure that representatives of all Apec members, including Hong Kong, China, will participate smoothly in the Apec events.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping appears at the opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou on Saturday. Photo: Xinhua alt=Chinese President Xi Jinping appears at the opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou on Saturday. Photo: Xinhua>
While avoiding any commitment on Xi’s presence at Apec, Xie suggested US and Chinese officials set a timetable for a doubling the number of direct flights between the two countries. He pointed out that Beijing had recently shortened the processing time for American visa applications to four days, and called for reciprocity.
He also called on Washington to renew the US-China Science and Technology Agreement, which came into effect in 1979, that expired against a backdrop of opposition to the pact from US lawmakers.
Some Democrat and Republican members of Congress have warned the State Department not to renew the agreement owing to fears of intellectual property theft and unintended benefits to the Chinese military.
Turning to his country’s economy, which has been dragged down by a moribund real estate market, Xie asserted that “every country has its own problems to tackle”.
“While facing some difficulties and challenges, the Chinese economy has been on an upward trajectory generally”, he said, pointing to an 11 per cent year-on-year increase in domestic tech sector investment in the first half of 2023 and the fact that “over 500 million Chinese went to the movies this summer”.
US-China Business Council president Craig Allen, one of two Americans speaking after Xie’s address on Wednesday, pulled the issue directly into the evening’s discourse. The other American speaker was Stephen Orlins, president of the National Committee on US-China Relations.
“It is imperative that both countries cooperate on many issues: arms control, regional stability, global food security, public health, narcotics control and many other areas of global public good,” Allen said.
“It is for this reason, on this auspicious day that we look forward to continued and sustained government-to-government dialogue,” he added. “We thank the two governments for their fulsome preparation for the Apec summit … and we would very much like to welcome a robust Chinese delegation led by His Excellency Xi Jinping.”
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2023 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.