Washington: A top Chinese diplomat has said that people accusing China of indulging in “predatory economics” should “look into the mirror”, underlining that there is no evidence of China trying to dominate the region.
Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai was responding to a question on the recent remarks by top American officials, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who accused China of indulging in predatory economics and causing unsustainable debt to the countries in the region.
Because of recent Chinese actions, several countries in the region have expressed concern over the increasing Chinese assertiveness, an allegation denied by the top Chinese diplomat.
“I think when people are saying these things (predatory economics) about China they might just look into the mirror. It might be describing themselves,” Cui said ahead of the US President Donald Trump’s visit to China early next month.
“We want to have a peaceful, stable and prosperous neighbourhood. And we always aimed at…we would take our neighbours our good partners and we will proceed in good faith. This has been proved by the history of China’s foreign policy,” Cui said.
He said there is no evidence that China is trying to dominate the region.
“We never believe that any single country should try to dominate a region or even the world,” he said, adding that China wants to build a community with shared future of the mankind.
“We are still looking forward to a good partnership with our neighbours. Of course, we want to establish very constructive relations with the US. We (China and the US) do not have a zero-sum game in Asia Pacific. We recognise the interest of the US in Asia Pacific and we want to cooperate with the United States. Hopefully this will be reciprocated by the US as well,” he said.
Cui said there is an ongoing discussion between China and the US on improving market access and addressing the trade imbalance. The general direction should be clear that the two countries should aim at mutually beneficial economic relations.
“We certainly want to achieve more balance of trade. This will have to be done over time. You cannot reduce trade deficit overnight,” he added.
The balance of trade payment, he said, is a structural problem.
“It’s not it’s not caused by somebody’s policy. The main reason for this trade imbalance is the different position of China and the US is the global production chain and the international division of labour and the so-called comparative advantage,” he said.
The goal, he said, is to achieve more balanced and mutually beneficial bilateral trade.
According to the Chinese Ambassador, Trump’s visit to China is the most important part of his Asia’s visit. Trump would also visit Japan, South Korea, China, the Philippines and Vietnam.
“Hopefully it will be the most productive and constructive (visit),” he said.