Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai Takes His Case to Capitol Hill

June 19, 2019 (EIRNS)—Speaking at an event yesterday in the House Rayburn Building to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of U.S.-China relations, Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai urged Americans to get a better understanding of his country, of its development model, and of its willingness to work together with the United States for the benefit of the entire world.

“As Mark Twain put it, ‘To a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail,’ ” Cui said.

“Some people assert that as China pursues a different development path, it will surely move America’s cheese. This vocal minority is going out of its way to paint America as the underdog in a zero-sum game with China. They are clamoring for the ‘decoupling’ of our two countries and even a ‘new Cold War.’ Clearly, these people wouldn’t bother to know about the benefits and value of free trade; they won’t trouble themselves to understand socialism with Chinese characteristics, the path China is taking; they are willfully oblivious to the fact that the world has become so interconnected that China and the U.S. are just two members—leading members—in the global village. These assertions and stereotypes, as ill-founded as they can ever be, not only negate what we have jointly achieved in the past 40 years and threaten our ongoing cooperation; they also jeopardize the future of our relations and undermine global stability and prosperity.”

Cui emphasized the fact that Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping have agreed to create a more collaborative relationship and urged others (i.e., Congress) to follow suit, observing how skeptical U.S. congressmen went to Beijing on a fact-finding mission after President Richard Nixon had made his own ground-breaking visit to the People’s Republic of China. “As President Abraham Lincoln said, ‘The best way to predict the future is to create it,’ ” Cui said.

“We shall not allow disputes and differences to define the current China-U.S. relationship, still less shall we let pride and prejudice determine its future. What kind of relationship we will have is the result of each and every decision we make now and is up to the two peoples to decide, including 5 million Chinese Americans who call this country home.”

The text of Cui’s remarks is posted on the Chinese Embassy website.