Chinese and American people will save bilateral relations

Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump. Photo: AP

Ambassador Cui Tiankai said the "goodwill" and "understanding" of the Chinese and American people would lead the two countries out of the crisis period in bilateral relations, stressing that "we have heard enough" about threats from the trade war and from territorial disputes.

In a speech at an event organized by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in the United States in Washington, weeks before the much-anticipated summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Argentina, Cui Tiankai said that the US-China relationship, which will mark the 40th anniversary of the establishment of relations in January 2019, "has made great strides, while also seeing setbacks."

Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai. Photo: Getty

"It seems that confrontation and rivalry have become the dominant aspect of our path forward. When our relationship has been on the decline, the people of both countries have always supported friendship and engagement, and turned the relationship in a better direction," the diplomat said. Cui Tiankai also expressed his belief that friendship between the people of the two countries, rather than political disagreement, is the factor that helps promote US-China relations.

The ambassador stressed that over the past year, "we have heard enough about the threat of a trade war, statements about strategic rivalry, threats in the South China Sea, and even baseless accusations against Chinese students and scholars."

According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, nearly half of Americans had an unfavorable attitude toward China in 2017. Meanwhile, 44% of respondents in China had a similar attitude toward the United States.