U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said at an event at the Washington think tank Brookings Institution on Friday (December 15) that he is "not optimistic" but "hopeful" about the direction of U.S.-China relations, and said that the United States is committed to the peaceful resolution of differences over the Taiwan Strait, and hopes that all parties will treat Taiwan responsibly in January next year**.
Burns pointed out that the U.S.-China relationship is the most important bilateral relationship today and even in the coming decades, and the relationship between the two countries is still dominated by competition. "There's no doubt that most of our time is focused on four areas: competition, defending and advancing: technology, human rights," Burns said. ”
Major competition and cooperation in U.S.-China relations
We're competing for military power in the Indo-Pacific, and we're seeing China's illegal expansion in the South and East China Seas, making claims to territories that don't belong to them," Burns singled out the Taiwan Strait, saying that "politically, militarily and economically, this is a region of global importance." "We are focused on peacefully resolving cross-strait differences." ”
He also said that technology has become at the heart of the U.S.-China competition, and that the U.S.-China competition is not just a competition for commercial interests. Artificial intelligence, biotechnology, quantum computing and other technologies will be applied to military technology, "and we don't want to be second in the future technological war." Burns said the U.S. has moved to prevent China from gaining access to high-end technology.
Burns said U.S. companies are being treated unfairly in China, and that "intellectual property infringements, forced technology transfers, and huge subsidies to local companies by China and local governments put U.S. competitors at a significant disadvantage." ”
On human rights, Ambassador Burns issued a statement on International Human Rights Day on Sunday, condemning China's violations of people's freedom of belief and politics in Xinjiang and Hong Kong. The United States and China also have huge differences in political philosophy.
Speaking at Friday's event, Burns also noted that the United States and China must cooperate while competing "because our interests sometimes coincide." ”
Burns said the U.S.-China relationship is complex, and in the coming months, the U.S. will see if the outcomes of the Xi meeting can be realized, including cooperation in combating fentanyl trafficking, resuming military-to-military dialogue, and beginning communication on artificial intelligence topics. Burns said that there is still room for cooperation between the two countries in global public health and food safety, and restoring and promoting people-to-people exchanges between the two countries will also be one of Biden's priorities.