Source:Xinhua
Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai Sunday urged US politicians and strategists to “make the right choice at the crossroads of history” for the world’s most important bilateral relations.
The two countries have fallen into a trade dispute since January, with the US slapping unreasonable tariffs on various Chinese commodities, which have aroused fears that the world’s two largest economies would engage in a trade war.
“I hope that American politicians and so-called strategists will not take the wrong direction, but make the right choices at the crossroads of history,” Cui said in a speech at the 2018 Penn Wharton China Summit on Sunday.
Cui said that China’s choice to reform and open up and the US decision to normalize relations with China 40 years ago were both “great historical choices,” which have brought tangible benefits to the two countries and peoples.
Coordination and cooperation between the US and China on major issues of international significance have also brought many positive changes to the world, Cui said.
“Now, the choices made by China and the US will not only set the direction of bilateral ties in the coming decades, but also determine how their relationship will affect the future of the two countries and the world as a whole,” Cui said.
“China’s choice is clear and firm,” he said. “We hope that China and the US can build a strong, healthy and stable relationship, a new type of major-power relationship devoid of conflict and confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation.”
The ambassador also responded to accusations that Chinese academics studying and working in the US in “basically every discipline” might be covertly gathering intelligence for the Chinese government. Cui called such accusations “baseless.”