China-US exchanges in various fields have made a good start in 2024. First, on the first day of the new year, the leaders of China and the United States exchanged congratulatory letters to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Then, from January 8 to 9, the 17th Sino-US Defense Department Working Meeting was held in Washington, D.C. At the same time, Liu Jianchao, director of the International Liaison Department of the Communist Party of China, was visiting the United States and was invited to deliver a speech at the US Council on Foreign Relations and interact with foreign parties. The visit of the Peking University table tennis team to the United States and the visit of the University of Virginia table tennis team to China reproduced the classic scene of "a small ball turning a big ball" in the history of Sino-US relations.
The simultaneous military, diplomatic, and civilian exchanges are striking at a time when U.S.-China relations have stabilized. The resumption and intensification of exchanges is what both Chinese and American societies and the international community hope to see. Sino-US relations are stable, and the world situation will not go anywhere; Sino-US relations are unstable, and the hearts of the whole world have to hang.
The United States' perceptions, policies, and actions toward China in recent years have brought Sino-US relations to a low ebb, bringing huge risks and hidden dangers to the world situation. The serious consequences caused by the short-sighted policy of the United States in the past have forced it to make rational reflections, and together with the worries and expectations of the international community, they have formed a joint force that has prompted the United States to make a certain degree of adjustment in its relations with China. We hope that this is the result of the United States drawing lessons from the twists and turns in Sino-US relations last year and will not repeat the mistakes of the past.
Relations between China and the United States also showed signs of easing at the beginning of last year, but they were soon damaged by the "balloon incident" hyped up by the United States. Many of the actual actions of the US side in the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea, and high-tech export controls to China have not only failed to implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state and Biden**, but also some have been completely reversed, creating one whirlpool after another in China-US relations. This year's U.S.-China relationship needs to emerge from these whirlpools.
With regard to China-US relations, China has always emphasized mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, and the US should truly work in the same direction. As long as the United States continues to position China as a "competitor" or even a "threat," then all of its China policies will eventually push China in this direction. Including some gestures of relaxation, communication and exchanges, we can only regard them as delaying the military or expedient measures of the US side, which lack sincerity and even lack good intentions. The US needs to work with China to rebuild basic political mutual trust, otherwise it will be impossible to achieve the healthy, stable and sustainable development of China-US relations.
It is in itself contradictory that the United States is pushing for so-called fierce competition with China on the one hand, and on the other hand, it is worried that the competition will get out of control and turn into conflict and confrontation. If the communication and exchanges that the United States seeks are so that it can compete with China "safely" and without worries, then the effect of communication and exchanges will inevitably be limited, and it is still less possible to guarantee that the competition provoked by the United States will always be carried out in its ideal "guardrails." The United States should abandon this unrealistic idea as soon as possible.
During this round of exchanges, the Chinese side expressed its sincerity in hoping to strengthen cooperation with the United States and its goodwill to live in peace, but also reaffirmed its firm will to never compromise or make concessions on the Taiwan issue. The US must face up to and respect China's major concerns, and on issues concerning China's core interests, especially the Taiwan issue, which is the core of China's core interests, the US must be cautious in its words and deeds, and not cross the red line. This is the premise for China and the United States to get along correctly. Without this premise, nothing can be done.