Ambassador: US and China still in the same boat and should navigate together through uncertainties

Cui Tiankai, Chinese Ambassador to the US, has said that the US and China are in the same boat in today’s world and should navigate through uncertainties together. 

He made the remarks at the Second Session of the 8th US-China Civil Dialogue hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington on July 25th. 

Using a metaphor by former US Secretary of Treasury Tim Geithner, Cui argued that the two countries share critical common interests in a world full of conflicts and challenges. 

Ambassador Cui Tiankai speaks at the Second Session of the 8th US-China Civil Dialogue hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington on July 25th. (Photo provide to China Plus by the Chinese Embassy in the United States)

Responding to theories of labeling China as a “revisionist country”, Cui said over the years China has proved to be more open and committed to international rules and norms, whereas the United States is showing more trends of isolating itself by pulling out of several international organizations or agreements. 

He also clarified the definition of China’s “new era” by saying that the term only refers to China’s own development, not its global strategy, and that China does not seek to challenge the current global order. 

Commenting on recent trade tensions between the two economies, Cui said trade deficit doesn’t mean loss and that trade relations between the two have been interdependent and mutually beneficial. 

But Cui also cautioned that believing the US can change China is an illusion. He said no country can really change one another and what has happened in China is an outcome of China’s own history. 

He also warned that the idea that the two countries should confront each other, and in his words, “have a head-on collision”, is rather dangerous and does no good to anybody. 

Instead, he argued, the two countries should navigate together through the uncertainties or uncharted waters, for the benefits of both our countries and for the entire world.