On June 7, 2023, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng delivered a keynote speech at the welcome event hosted by the U.S.-China Business Council. He pointed out that the two countries need to uphold the principles of mutual respect, peaceful co-existence and win-win cooperation, and explore the right way to get along in the new era.

Ambassador Xie said that he is pleased to be back in the United States after 13 years, his third posting here. A lot has changed, and we are finding ourselves in a world of turbulence, with serious challenges in China-U.S. relations. We are again at a crossroads. Which way should we take: to stabilize the relationship and find the right way to get along in the new era, or to let it spiral downward further into conflict and confrontation? This is a major choice we need to make. Ambassador Xie said that since his arrival two weeks ago, he has been reaching out to American friends from all walks of life. Their biggest concern is about China and the United States slipping into conflict and confrontation. Their greatest hope is for this relationship to stabilize. If the world is to become better, the China-U.S. relationship must stop getting worse.

Ambassador Xie said that President Xi Jinping has made it clear: getting this relationship right is not optional, but something we must do and must do well. The world is big enough for our two countries to develop themselves and prosper together. President Xi Jinping has proposed the three principles of mutual respect, peaceful co-existence and win-win cooperation. They represent the fundamental and right way for the two countries to get along in the new era. Among them, mutual respect comes first; peaceful co-existence is the red line; win-win cooperation is the goal. China has always placed importance on its relationship with the United States. It is ready to work with the U.S. side to follow the right direction, enhance dialogue and cooperation, defuse the flash points, and take concrete actions to deliver on the common understandings between the two presidents, so as to bring this relationship back to the right track at an early date.

Ambassador Xie said that the U.S. side should respect China’s choice of development path and social system, the Chinese people’s right to a better life, and China’s core interests and major concerns. These are essential for this relationship to advance in the right direction, with no conflict, no confrontation and no new Cold War. A pressing task is to bring the Taiwan question, the biggest risk, under control. No one wants peaceful reunification more than China does. We are also the last that wants tensions or warfare across the Taiwan Strait. It is not the Chinese side who simulated the war game, changed the status quo or stoked crisis. The Taiwan authorities are seeking U.S. support for their independence agenda; while some in the United States are proposing to use Taiwan to contain China. These are the biggest threats to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. At present, the most fundamental thing is to fully and faithfully adhere to the one-China principle; the most important is to abide by the three joint communiqués with real actions; and the most pressing is to match words with deeds and oppose adventurism and provocation by the “Taiwan independence” forces.