Envoy: US and China must work together to preserve improved relations

China's top envoy to the United States called on Washington to work with Beijing to preserve hard-won improvements in relations and implement important consensus reached by President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump at their May summit.

"The most important thing now is to take concrete actions to faithfully implement the common understandings reached between the two presidents, translate the new vision of a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability into real actions, and keep expanding the list for cooperation while shortening the list of problems," Ambassador Xie Feng said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a reception at the embassy marking the 99th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, Xie said the two countries have "every obligation to pursue dialogue and cooperation, and no single reason for conflict or confrontation".

He said that during their summit in Beijing, the leaders made clear the two countries will work toward a relationship with cooperation as the mainstay, competition within proper limits, manageable differences, an expectable peace, and explore a right way to get along in the new era.

As the world's two largest economies, permanent members of the UN Security Council and nuclear-weapon states, the countries share a special responsibility for maintaining world peace and stability and advancing global development and prosperity, he said.

"It needs to be noted that the stabilizing and improving momentum in China-US relations has not come easily, and should be doubly cherished," Xie said.

Xie's remarks echoed the call made by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last Wednesday in Manila, their second encounter this year.

During the meeting, Wang noted that it is now the duty of both sides to "follow the course set by the two heads of state, eliminate disturbances, and overcome obstacles" to ensure that the leaders' consensus is translated into whole-of-government consensus and action across all fields.

Last week, Vice-Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu travelled to Washington and held "in-depth exchanges of views" with the US side on implementing the important consensus reached by the heads of state of China and the US and advancing the building of a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability, according to a Chinese readout.

Despite the intensified exchanges, Washington has continuously overstretched the concept of national security to target Chinese businesses and institutions.

On Tuesday, citing national security, cybersecurity and supply-chain concerns, the Federal Communications Commission added foreign-produced "advanced robotic devices" to its Covered List, preventing new covered devices from receiving the equipment authorization required to be imported and marketed in the United States.

The move will primarily affect China's robotics firms, because of their dominant position in several segments of the global robotics market.

Last Thursday, the Pentagon added several Chinese research institutions, including Fudan University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, to its so-called "list of foreign institutions engaging in problematic activities".

Xie said China would "resolutely" safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests.

He identified four Chinese "red lines" that should not be challenged: Taiwan, democracy and human rights, path and system, and development rights.

Xie said "Taiwan independence" and peace across the Taiwan Strait are "as irreconcilable as fire and water." He called on the United States to adhere to the one-China principle and the three Sino-US Joint Communiques and exercise "extra caution" in handling the Taiwan question.

Highlighting potential areas for cooperation, Xie said Chinese advances in the digital economy, artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and the low-altitude economy offer opportunities for global development.

He said AI also poses governance, security and ethical challenges and welcomed the United States and other countries to participate in the China-initiated World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization.

Xie said history and present-day realities show that the world is large enough for China and the United States to develop respectively and thrive together.

With countries facing numerous global challenges, Washington and Beijing should fulfill their shared responsibility for the global good, he said.

Xie called on the United States to work with China to advance international cooperation through constructive engagement and promote world peace through bilateral strategic stability, "so as to jointly explore a right way to get along in the new era based on mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation, and make new contributions to human peace and development".

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Alvaro Smith, and other officials, representatives from various sectors, foreign diplomats and military attaches posted in the United States, and members of the overseas Chinese community, attended Tuesday's reception.