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His Excellency Yang Jiechi Ambassador of Peoples Republic of China to the United States |
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1 April, 2004 |
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Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your very warm and generous introduction. Mack President, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen and dear friends, I would like to thank you very much for giving me the plaque and whether you give me the award or not that’s another question. I’m a little bit nervous today. I would like to thank you for your kind hospitality.
This is really a homecoming for me because Los Angeles means a lot to me. I remember when I was a young diplomat in the Foreign Service back in 1977 on my first trip to the United States I came to L.A. On that occasion I met some very active members of L.A. and California, like Mrs. Ahmanson. Unfortunately, she is not with us on this occasion, but I would still like to pay my respects to Mrs. Ahmanson and all the people who, over the years, have contributed so much to our relationship. I recall many other times, particularly when top Chinese leaders came to visit L.A. I remember the moving scenes of welcoming parties for the then-President of China Zhiang Zemin. I also remember my own speech here at the kind invitation of the Council in August 2001. It’s just like a blink now that it’s 2004, and I must say that in the last three years or so our relationship with the United States has registered some noticeable progress. Our relationship is on a more even keel and there have been many many important and positive events in our relationship.
So I would like to thank you for inviting me back. When President Mack mentioned this idea to me in Washington I really wanted to come. When I became the ambassador, I thought would have a lot more opportunities to travel, but it seems to me that I’ve been confined to within the Beltway because something’s always going on there. So I really wanted to come out, and I believe that as the U.S.-China relationship has improved, L.A. has made even greater progress and there is a lot of dynamism here. I congratulate you on taking an even bigger lead over Washington economy-wise. It’s very nice to be here.
Today I propose to talk about several important areas of the China-U.S. relationship. First I would like to stress the importance of strategic dialogue at the top level between our two nations. In the last year or two, we have seen successful summits between President Hu Jintao and President Bush, and during their meetings they agreed upon establishing a constructive and cooperative relationship between China and the United States and then they fleshed out these ideas and now you can see that this relationship is really moving forward slowly in that direction.
I for one believe that we need to further increase high-level visits both ways. This year it has already been announced that Vice President Dick Cheney will visit China in mid-April. We are very much looking forward to his visit, and I’m sure that his visit will go a long way in further expanding the consensus and cooperation between our two nations in these trying times.
Most of all I’m glad to say that the leadership of our two countries and the high ranking officials of the departments concerned stay in close touch with each other by correspondence or by telephone. I remember about half a year ago when I was down in College Station, Houston, attending a very big symposium on the China-U.S. relationship, Secretary of State, Colin Powell mentioned something. He said that the Chinese Foreign Minister called him, he was at home and he picked up the phone. But Mrs. Colin Powell didn’t realize that he was on the phone, the doorbell rang and the dog started to bark and Mrs. Colin Powell shouted at the Secretary of State, “Hey, go and open the door.” So the secretary was kept too busy. In this day and age, high-level communication is becoming very important. What we need to do is have more such dialogues and to have more combinations of a substantive nature at the departmental level between our two countries. I’m glad to say that earlier this year there have been strategic and political dialogues at the vice Prime Minister level between the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the State Department, and we are seeing a lot more discussion between other departments as well. For instance, on the economic side one must have noticed that Ambassador Bob Zoellick the United States Trade Representative to China and the Secretary of Commerce, Don Evans and his secretaries have made quite frequent visits to China, and I can say about the same about their Chinese counterparts.
The second point I want to mention is the importance of further expanding our cooperation on the security side, both for our bilateral and multilateral fora. We are living in a very challenging age. There are traditional security threats and there are non-traditional ones as well. First and foremost, China and the United States stand together in the fight against terrorism. We would like to continue along this journey with the American side on the basis of equality, mutual benefit, and reciprocity. We want this cooperation to further expand and I’m glad to say that there have already been three rounds of consultations between us on anti-terrorism in such areas as cutting off terrorists from financing, on sharing intelligence with each other, and how to coordinate our moves in the multi-lateral arena. CSI, that’s Container Security Initiative, has already been brought into fruition. You are sending people into China and, likewise, we are sending people here from Customs.
On the question of making the Korean peninsula a nuclear-weapon free peninsula, China, the United States and other countries have been coordinating their moves. We’re very happy that the second round of six-party talks took place with some measure of success. Of course, it’s a long journey, and that’s why the Chinese side has been working very hard to bring about the early opening of the working group leading to a third round of discussion. Our Foreign Minister, Mr. Li Zhaoxing, went to North Korea recently and talked to the very top leadership there about the importance of having such a dialogue – a continuing dialogue.
Many in China, and I think many in the United States and elsewhere, would like to see a nuclear weapon free Korean peninsula. We believe that it should also be a peaceful and stable place. Of course we think that the legitimate security concerns should also be addressed in a useful way. So we encourage all parties to adopt a pragmatic and flexible approach.
On the question of Iraq, China and the United States have been consulting each other. China wants to see an acceleration of the peaceful reconstruction of Iraq. We have been donating what we can to the peaceful reconstruction effort in Iraq. China has expressed very clearly that it thinks positively about substantially reducing the Iraqi debt owed to China. The same can be said about our efforts on the Afghanistan front. We’re helping to build reservoirs and bridges in Afghanistan. We have already donated about U.S. $150 million to that nation.
Now, the traditional security threats area I think offers a lot of promise for our cooperation. When we talk about that area what comes to our mind are things like terrorism, alien smuggling, drug trafficking, environmental degradation and so on. China and the United States are both big nations. We need to work better to make our region, i.e., the Asia-Pacific region and the world, a much safer place.
While we move forward in the security area, we also have to concern ourselves with the economic front. Economic cooperation between China and the United States has always been a strong pillar supporting the overall development of our relationship even during the most difficult periods in our interaction. Today, when we look around we find that we regard each other as one of the most important trading partners. In China we see lots of American products and here we see a lot of goods made in China. I for one believe that this trade and economic cooperation serves the interests of both sides. But I must be frank, in this country people seem to have different views on how to look at China-U.S. trade. Basically, there are two issues. First, there’s the issue of the Chinese IMB-International Maritime Bureau exchange rate; second is the issue of trading balance and the alleged loss of jobs to China from the U.S. When you look at a country’s exchange rate I think one has to look at its overall trade pattern. Yes, it’s true, China has a trade surplus with the United States. According to our statistics it’s about U.S. $60 billion. On the other hand, China has been importing a lot from the outside world, particularly from our neighboring countries and region. Altogether we have a trade deficit of about U.S. $97 billion with our neighbors and also some regions. Our trade surplus last year shrank to about U.S. $25 billion. We used to have a lot more trade surplus and during the first two months of this year we had a trade deficit of about U. S. $8 billion. So I believe it’s very difficult to argue that a country has an overall trade balance when really it has a twisted exchange rate system. Alan Greenspan said that he doesn’t believe that a realignment of the Chinese IMB exchange rate would result in an increase of job opportunities here. What he believes will happen, would be a transfer of jobs from China to other third world countries and the United States would end up importing the same kind of goods from other countries instead of China. The parts may be the same, the quality would not be so good. That’s my own interpretation, that’s not what he said. I think that the reason why people go and get some goods from China is first, the price is inexpensive, and while you can get inexpensive goods from many other countries, it’s the quality that matters.
I must stress that I do not exclude the possibility that China will adapt to a more flexible attitude towards the formation of our exchange rate when the economy becomes better and there is an elevation of our management skills in the financial sector. Meanwhile, we would like to continue our discussion with the U.S. side, particularly with the Treasury Department. This kind of dialogue has been going on between the two sides. The second point was about the loss of jobs to China and to blame China for that. I still need to see the facts, because it is the opinion, I think, of the overwhelming majority of the renowned Chinese scholars in this country, economists in this country that the slow increase in job opportunities is basically attributable to the economic cycle in this country and the enhanced productivity of your economy.
Our two economies basically complement one another. The goods from China are what American consumers need, and that also gives Alan Greenspan and his colleagues more wiggle room for adjusting interest rates. Besides, we buy billions and billions of dollars of Treasury Bonds from the United States. So I believe that one has to look at both sides of the picture. That does not mean that we are not trying to address the issue of trade in balance, which is an objective part.
China has been sending buying missions to this country on a quite regular basis. In the last three months or so, we have spent U.S. $12 billion purchasing your aircraft, cars and parts, high tech and telecommunication equipment, soybeans, coffee, wheat and many other things, including aluminum. I must say that on a state-by-state basis not every state might benefit directly from China’s purchase, but indirectly such purchases actually have an impact on quite a number of states here. Furthermore, we are sending missions to do study tours in the United States, and the Chinese version of the Chamber of Commerce sends a number of delegations here to all places, to the heartland of the United States as well, to search for opportunities not only for purchasing of American goods but also for making investments here. At the moment Chinese investment in this country is still rather small – only about a little bit over U.S. $1 billion dollars. But what is a trickle can become a strong current. With the explosion of the Chinese economy, particularly with the development of the private sector, I bet that more and more Chinese will come to visit and scout opportunities.
I can tell you that recently a friend of mine, a personal friend, led a delegation from a certain city in China. She meant to bring here ten private businessmen to do business in the United States but she ended up with only two of them because the rest couldn’t get visas. I was very interested in talking to the two businessmen – actually only one of them came to my residence. I said, “What do you do?” He said, “I do packaging for Colgate toothbrush and toothpaste in China and throughout Asia.” He told me that he has two children, one is studying printing in London and the other is studying at the Imperial College in London, and he has a very comfortable life. This businessman is not interested in staying in the United States and becoming an illegal immigrant. He has big business in China. He comes here to explore business opportunities. I hope that both sides will take proper measures to make sure that business opportunities will not only be tapped into but also be broadened and increased. That’s the way to go forward.
I think in this year, a rather extraordinary year, China and the United States, especially people who are interested in a strong relationship between our two nations should work together to make sure that our economic ties will continue to be an enduring political factor in China-U.S. relationship.
My fourth point is about the importance of showing concern for issues which touch upon the core interest of the other side. Of course, America has its core interest and being a diplomat in this country I think we try to tell our government what are the core American interests. I’m sure that my government is fully aware of those interests and we take care to make sure that we will be helpful whenever possible.
In our own case, I wish to point out that the Taiwan issue remains the most sensitive and important core issue in the China-U.S. relationship. Taiwan has always been an inalienable part of China. Whatever the end outcome of the election in Taiwan, it will not change the status of Taiwan as part of China. So long as there is an iota of hope for a peaceful solution of the Taiwan issue which means that we will actually strive for peaceful reunification, we will do our utmost to achieve peaceful reunification. On the other hand, we are firmly opposed to Taiwan’s independence. We hope that the U.S. will stick by its commitment and that is, to adhere to the one-China policy, the three China-U.S. joint communiqués, more to stress U.S. opposition to Taiwan’s independence by the Taiwan authorities, designed to change unilaterally the status quo of Taiwan or to move Taiwan towards independence. We urge the U.S. to try to refrain from sending any wrong signals to the Taiwanese authorities and, for the sake of peace and stability across the Taiwan straits, for our common interests, to refrain from sending wrong signals and to stick by its own above-mentioned commitment.
My last point is about the importance of strengthening people-to-people contacts because any strong relationship needs to be built up from the grassroots, from different localities here in this country and in my country across the Pacific. In this sense it is very important for L.A. and California to continue to play an important role. California and L.A. are strong culturally, economically and socially. With your resources and advantages I believe that there can be even more in the future to our relationship. I call upon quality leaders of the community today and I will continue to do that tomorrow. I wish to see a further blossoming of the L.A.-Gvangzhov Sister City relationship.
The overall trade between California and China reached about U.S. $58 billion dollars last year. There is even more potential for doing that. In my view, L.A. and California are strategically located. You are the first continental state or city that Chinese reach after they departed from China and this is also the gateway to Asia, a place bursting with energy.
China is now developing various strong economic ties with Latin America. When I was in the Foreign Ministry back in the 1990s we had just about $4-5 billion in trade with Latin America. Now, that has jumped up to about U.S. $25 billion dollars. So, L.A. can play the role of a bridge even between China and Latin America. The L.A.World Affairs Council is composed of people of great accomplishment from every walk of life in this area and it has been a pioneer in pushing forward on China-U.S. relations.
In the 21st century, it’s so important for China and the United States to stay together. When I shook hands with you tonight many people introduced themselves. They could be Japanese-Americans, Korean-Americans, Pakistani-Americans; they could be Christians, Muslims or British. The world is a very diversified and colorful place.
China is the largest and one of the oldest civilizations in the world, the largest developing country. The United States is a rather young civilization and the strongest developed nation in the world and can contribute in its own distinctive way to a more peaceful, stable and prosperous world. We not only need to learn to live together, we need to learn to live together well and happily and to work together for such a better world. China welcomes a positive and active role by the United States in the Asia Pacific region and we also hope that the two countries can work together on many urgent issues in the region and the world. The Council has served as a bridge between the United States and Asia. Mrs. Jorgensen told me, “I don’t feel that China is that far away. We’re neighbors.” Indeed, with modern communication and transportation facilities we are close neighbors, just separated by a tiny strip of water. L.A. is so different from many other states and cities. If my memory serves me correctly, this is the only city where three major Chinese airlines all have a presence—China Eastern, China Southern and Air China. This is the only city that operates that way in terms of links with China. Not even New York, not even San Francisco. So it shows that the volume, the sheer volume, of exchange between us is much bigger as compared with your sister cities in other parts of the United States.
I thank you very much for coming tonight and I would like to thank you very much for giving your many-faceted support to our Consul General, a distinguished diplomat of Ambassadorial rank and I can call him an ambassador, Ambassador Zhong. Here his colleagues have been doing their best to serve the community and to serve our mutual interests, and I hope that you will continue to give him, give our Consul General, as much support as possible. Although I’m based in Washington, I would like to see you from time to time and I will welcome you to my place in Washington and continue our good discussion. I wish you every one of you a very prosperous new year, although we’re more than a quarter past the year, still in terms of the Chinese lunar year, the new year passed out too long ago. Let us work together to make our ties even stronger, make our people even closer, and make our cooperation even more fruitful.
Thank you very much. |
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