Swap fear for focus, envoy advises US

Fear has been winning out over rationality in the United States' approach to China, according to China's top envoy in Washington. And Qin Gang believes it's time for US policymakers to bring a focus on common interests and responsibilities back to the center of the relationship.

The ambassador, a year into his post, made the points on Tuesday when fielding questions from reporters on a bilateral relationship that has been suffering as a result of a policy mindset in which threats loom large.

"My country is being greatly misperceived and miscalculated as a challenge or even a threat to the United States," he said in response to a question from a Politico reporter who referred to the increasing political rhetoric on the notion of a "China threat" and how such talk could influence congressional midterm elections in November.

"This relationship, which is so important and so consequential, is now being driven by fear, not by common interests and common responsibilities," Qin said.

In an interview with the Al Jazeera network the same day, Qin said that there is indeed a fear in the US that he labeled as "China phobia", and it is spreading, according to a transcript the embassy released on Thursday.

He said the status quo of China-US relations is "sadly" going downhill, and the trend is very worrisome. But these are two countries whose bilateral trade volume annually has exceeded $750 billion and had 5 million mutual visits before the pandemic, Qin said.

In addition, there are hundreds of thousands of Chinese students studying in the US, and more and more young people in the US are choosing China for their studies.

Common sense

"I think it's time to bring common sense, common interests and common responsibility back to the center stage of China-US relations, and our differences and disagreements cannot justify confrontation and should not lead us to a wrong path to confrontation and conflict," he said.

Steve Clemons, host of the Al Jazeera English channel's The Bottom Line program and editor-at-large at The Hill, asked Qin if "China phobia" amounts to racism.

"Maybe you can make a judgment, but I do feel that in this country, Asian hate is on the rise," the ambassador said. "Chinese scientists, Chinese students feel more and more unsafe in the country. Our normal interactions, cooperation in various fields, are now being affected negatively by fear."

An annual business survey released in June by the China General Chamber of Commerce－USA found that prevailing anti-China sentiment in US public discourse ranked second in the top five challenges facing Chinese companies doing business in the US.

A case in point involves a planned corn mill in Grand Forks, North Dakota, which could bring as many as 1,000 construction jobs and more than 200 permanent jobs to the city, but its "connection to China stoked a backlash", The New York Times reported on July 17.

The agriculture business was proposed by Fufeng USA, the US subsidiary of a Chinese company that makes components for animal feed, according to the report.

The report notes that "attitudes toward China have turned sharply negative as politicians from both parties have increasingly portrayed the country as a threat".

In a speech addressed to the business community on Aug 9, Qin noted that normal economic and trade cooperation has been politicized and linked to security issues, with tariffs on Chinese goods still in place, and more than 1,000 Chinese entities and individuals being put on various lists of sanctions and restrictions.

Investments from Chinese enterprises are being closely scrutinized, while US companies are not allowed to invest in some "key industries" in China, he said at the fourth China-US Business Forum held by Forbes.

"Our economic and trade cooperation should be driven by our common interests, not by fear," he said.

In the Al Jazeera interview, Qin said he was concerned about the low level of trust between China and the US as a result of the widespread China phobia in the US.

To restore trust, the US side needs to have a "fair and objective" view of China's development intentions, which are to deliver a better life to its own people and also deliver for world peace, security and common development. "Some people see China as a challenge or even a threat trying to replace the United States. It's not our intention," Qin said.