China-U.S. relations not zero-sum game: Chinese FM

Photo taken on Sept. 24, 2015 shows the national flags of China (R) and the United States as well as the flag of Washington D.C. on the Constitution Avenue in Washington, capital of the United States. [Xinhua/Bao Dandan]

The U.S. has in fact become a source of turbulence that undermines the current world order and a stumbling block hindering the democratization of international relations, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

"What we want to tell the U.S. is that China-U.S. relations are not a zero-sum game conceived by the U.S. side," he said, noting that countries can stage fair competition with each other, and it is natural that China and the United States have some competition between them, but it should not be a destructive one.

SUVA, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here Saturday that China-U.S. relations are not a zero-sum game and the U.S. should address the bilateral ties based on the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation.

In response to a recent policy speech by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who described China as "the most serious long-term challenge to the international order," Wang said there are major misconceptions in the U.S. views about the world, China and China-U.S. relations.

The world is not what the United States has described and the most pressing task facing the international community is to jointly protect human life and health, promote world economic recovery and safeguard world peace and tranquility, which calls for the establishment of a community with a shared future and for the implementation of purposes and principles enshrined in the UN Charter, Wang said.

He stressed that the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative have won widespread recognition and support from the international community, and the U.S. obsession with "Western-centrism", "exceptionalism" and the Cold War mentality, as well as its push for the logic of hegemony and bloc politics, go against the trend of history, which will only lead to confrontation and split the world community.

The U.S. has in fact become a source of turbulence that undermines the current world order and a stumbling block hindering the democratization of international relations, Wang noted.

Stressing that China is not what the U.S. has imagined, Wang said there is a clear historical logic to China's development and revitalization that has a strong endogenous power.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare (R) meets with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Honiara, Solomon Islands, May 26, 2022. [Xinhua]

The common pursuit of modernization by 1.4 billion Chinese people represents a great progress for mankind, rather than a threat or challenge to the world, Wang noted, adding that such an achievement is made under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, and a result of the solidarity, diligence and hard work of the Chinese people who find the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

"Our goal is open, fair and square. It is to make life better for our people and to make a greater contribution to the world, not to replace or challenge any others," Wang said.

"We are bringing reform, opening up and win-win cooperation to a higher level. We shall become a better version of ourselves and make the world a better place," he said.

"What we want to tell the U.S. is that China-U.S. relations are not a zero-sum game conceived by the U.S. side," Wang said.

Chinese leaders have pointed out that whether China and the United States can properly handle their relationship matters the future of the world, and it is a question of the century needed to be well answered by the two countries, he said.

Before answering the question, the U.S. side should first be aware that a unipolar hegemony will find no support, group confrontation has no future, building small yards with high fences means self-isolation and backwardness, and decoupling and cutting supplies only hurt others and itself as well, Wang said.

Countries can stage fair competition with each other, and it is natural that China and the United States have some competition between them, but it should not be a destructive one, Wang said. The Chinese people have the confidence and are ready to conduct a fair competition to see who can better govern their own country and who can make more contributions to the world.

"We will never yield to blackmail or coercion, and will firmly defend China's sovereignty, security and development interests," he said, stressing that the Chinese people have the backbone and resolve to do it, and any suppression and containment will only make them more united.

The U.S. side should focus its efforts on enforcing the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, so as to find the way for the two major countries of China and the United States to properly deal with each other in the new era, Wang said.

Wang is paying a visit to Fiji, the fourth leg of his current tour to the Pacific island countries.