On September 29, 2026, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng gave an exclusive interview to Senior Foreign Policy Writer Tom O’Connor from Newsweek on President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the United States and China-U.S. relations. The full transcript was published on the Newsweek website on October 1.

Tom O’Connor asked: Since the summit in May, the two sides have agreed on building “a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability.” During this visit, the two Presidents further expanded the concept to “a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability on the basis of respect, fairness, and reciprocity.” What does this vision entail, and what does “respect”, “fairness” and “reciprocity” respectively mean while some politicians in the U.S. continue to emphasize the competition component of the relationship?

Ambassador Xie said that one of the most important political deliverables of this visit is that the two Presidents further enriched the substance of the characterization of China-U.S. relations, and agreed to build “a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability on the basis of respect, fairness, and reciprocity.” 

Respect means respecting each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, respecting each country’s choice of social system and development path, and respecting the other side’s core interests and major concerns. The Taiwan question, democracy and human rights, China’s path and system, and China’s development right are four red lines for China, which should not be challenged. China will never waver in its resolve to safeguard national unity and territorial integrity. We hope the U.S. side will adhere to the correct position of opposing “Taiwan independence,” and handle the Taiwan question with caution.

Fairness means pursuing mutually beneficial cooperation and handling differences through consultation, rejecting a zero-sum game in which one side’s gain comes at the expense of the other’s, and not seeking unilateral absolute advantage. China and the U.S. do not need to avoid mentioning competition, but our competition should be fair, rules-based, and kept within bounds. It should be a race of catching up with one another, not a wrestle in which one either wins or loses.

Reciprocity means that the two countries are equal in sovereignty, that neither side stands above the other, that neither engages in hegemonic nor bullying behavior, that each side’s concerns are addressed on an equal basis, and that cooperation across various fields develops in a balanced manner. China and the U.S. share extensive common interests. Meanwhile, it is only natural that we should have differences and disagreements. The two sides need to make good use of the political and diplomatic channel, as well as the economic and trade consultation mechanism, to build trust, dispel misgivings, seek common ground while managing differences, and properly address each other’s concerns, so as to install a buffer for bilateral relations. The two sides also need to lengthen the list of cooperation by both consolidating cooperation in traditional areas such as economy, trade, and energy, and actively fostering new drivers of growth in mil-to-mil relations, law enforcement, public health, agriculture, tourism, science and technology, people-to-people exchanges, and beyond.