Chinese Ambassador Warns against U.S. and China ‘Decoupling,’ and Threat of New Cold War

June 17, 2019 (EIRNS)—Speaking June 12 on the occasion of former President Jimmy Carter receiving an award for his role in furthering U.S.-China relations, Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai warned:

“This year marks the 40th anniversary of our diplomatic relations. ... At this critical juncture, there are yet some irrational doubts about our relations. Some are clamoring for decoupling of our two countries and a new Cold War. These attempts are not only questioning the achievements we have made over the past four decades [of U.S.-China relations] and challenging the very tangible outcomes of our cooperation, but also putting the future of our relations and prospects for global stability and prosperity at great risk.”

The Bush China Foundation awarded President Carter its first “George H.W. Bush Award for Statesmanship in U.S.-China Relations,” for his “profound contributions to the development of constructive and mutually-beneficial relations” between the two countries, Xinhua reported. It’s noteworthy that the ceremony was held at the Carter Center at Emory University, which has carried out a witch hunt against Chinese and Chinese-American scientists (see EIR Daily Alert for June 17, 2019).

Speakers included Neil Bush, son of the late former President George H.W. Bush, who stated that the 1979 establishment of diplomatic ties with China not only transformed U.S.-China relations, but “indeed quite literally changed the world and for the better.” Carter’s son Chip accepted the award for his father who was recovering from hip surgery. Several speakers emphasized that Bush and Carter’s strengthening U.S.-China should serve as a model for today.

On June 10, South China Morning Post and Xinhua reported on remarks that Jimmy Carter had made the day before at his church Sunday School in Plains, Georgia, in which he described an April phone call he had with President Donald Trump, regarding a letter Carter had sent him, marking the 40 years since he, Carter, had established U.S. diplomatic relations with China in 1979; President Trump depicted the letter as “beautiful.” Carter explained that in that April call President Trump raised his concern about China “getting ahead of the U.S.,” to which Carter replied that the U.S. had spent trillions of dollars on foreign wars, whereas China was devoting its spending to infrastructure high-speed rail lines and education. As SCMP reported, President Carter said

“the United States was the ‘most warlike nation in the history of the world’ due to a desire to impose American values on other countries, whereas China was investing its resources into infrastructure projects such as high-speed rail. ‘Since 1979, do you know how many times China has been at war with anybody? None. And we have stayed at war,’ he said.”