On December 3, 2024, the China General Chamber of Commerce — Chicago held its eighth annual gala. In his remarks, Ambassador Xie Feng emphasized that as two major countries, China and the United States should only get their relationship right, not mess it up. From the ice breaking to the establishment of diplomatic relations and to the exploration of a right way to get along today, generations of people in both countries have put in strenuous efforts and achieved historic progress. What we need to do is to carry it forward and keep adding building blocks to the mansion of the China-U.S. relationship.

Ambassador Xie said that the two Presidents had a successful meeting in Lima not long ago. Taking stock of the experience and inspirations from the past 45 years of China-U.S. diplomatic ties, President Xi Jinping observed that when our two countries treat each other as partner and seek common ground while shelving differences, our relationship will make considerable progress. But if we regard each other as rival and engage in vicious competition, we will roil the relationship or even set it back. 

History has proven that China and the United States stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation. A new Cold War should not be fought and cannot be won. Containing China is unwise and bound to fail. Which should one choose, to be friends with 1.4 billion people, or to turn against each other? The answer is self-evident. 

Ambassador Xie said that at this new crossroads, we cannot backpedal or take one step forward but then two backward. Instead, we need to forge ahead step by step, uphold the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, enhance dialogue and communication, properly manage differences and expand mutually beneficial cooperation, so as to find a right way for our two countries to get along in the new era.