FM urges US to reinstate pragmatic China policy

China said on Monday that an important reason why China-United States ties face severe challenges rarely seen since the establishment of diplomatic relations is because the US isn't earnestly complying with the principles and spirit of the Shanghai Communique, which set the stage for the normalization of ties.

"We should draw more wisdom from the Shanghai Communique… and endeavor to find the correct way of getting along with each other based on mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation," State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a virtual address to a ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the communique.

He urged Washington to reinstate a reasonable and pragmatic China policy, put into place the commitments made by US President Joe Biden, and promote putting bilateral ties back on the right track.

In the communique, signed during the historic 1972 visit to China by then US president Richard Nixon, the US clearly stated that it acknowledges that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Straits maintain there is one China, and that Taiwan is a part of China.

But not long after China and the US established diplomatic relations in 1979, the US unilaterally came up with the so-called "Taiwan Relations Act" and the "Six Assurances", which breached the commitments Washington made in three joint communiques with China.

The US should return to the original meaning of the one-China principle, stop condoning or supporting "Taiwan independence" activities, stop attempting to use Taiwan to contain China and stop using words and deeds that interfere in China's domestic affairs, Wang said.

Noting that the two sides need to view their relations in a broader perspective with a more inclusive attitude, Wang said that China and the US should choose dialogue over confrontation, cooperation over conflict, openness over seclusion, and integration over decoupling.

Cooperation is the best option for both sides, he said, calling on the two countries to jointly provide more COVID-19 vaccines to developing countries, maintain coordination on macroeconomic policies and jointly deal with the climate change crisis.

Wang said that China is open to US participation in the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Development Initiative, while China is also willing to consider coordinating with the US Build Back Better plan to provide the world with more public good.

He also urged the US to work with China in the Asia-Pacific region to build "a family of openness, inclusiveness, innovation, growth, connectivity and win-win cooperation", rather than turn the region into one of conflict and confrontation.

Henry Kissinger, who served as assistant for national security affairs to Nixon and was behind the late president's historic visit to China, participated in the ceremony via video link. "I have great confidence that 50 years from now when people assemble again to reflect on Chinese and American relations, they will look back to a century of cooperation and understanding and settlement of conflicts," he said.

In a video speech delivered to the ceremony, former US Treasury secretary Jacob Lew underlined the importance of the US and China working together, saying that the world looks to the two countries to sustain economic growth and anchor stability in 2022. "How we exercise that responsibility will shape the futures of our two nations in the broader global community," he said.

Li Haidong, a professor of US studies at China Foreign Affairs University, said the China-US relationship and the wider world are both now at a turning point.

"A pragmatic and rational approach to bilateral ties will not only help the two countries move toward a constructive relationship, but also help to stabilize the current international landscape," Li said.