On the night of September 20, the US-China Business
Council, National Committee on US-China Relations and
US-China Policy Foundation jointly held a banquet for
Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, who made a speech, titled
Deepen Mutual Understanding, Build up Mutual Trust and
Promote Healthy Development of China-US Relations, on that
occasion. The following is the full text.
Mr.
President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am
delighted to have the opportunity of visiting Washington
again and meeting with friends, both old and new. I would
like to express my hearty thanks to the US-China Business
Council, National Committee on US-China Relations and
US-China Policy Foundation for their gracious
invitation.
Over the years, the US-China
Business Council, National Committee on US-China Relations
and US-China Policy Foundation all of you present
here have made unremitting efforts to enhance the mutual
understanding and friendship between the Chinese and
American peoples and advance the bilateral relations, for
which I wish to express my appreciation.
The
Chinese Government and people felt deeply shocked and
saddened at the violent terrorist attacks on New York and
Washington D.C. President Jiang Zemin sent a message of
sympathy to President Bush right on the very night of
September eleventh. On the second day the two presidents
talked with each other over the phone. Just as President
Jiang has said that at this moment of sorrow, the Chinese
Government and people wish to share the grief of the US
Government and people.
These attacks have not
only brought disasters to the American people, but also
posed a challenge to people the world over. The Chinese
people stand by the American people and the entire
international community in the fight against terrorism. We
care about the progress of rescue efforts and are ready to
provide all necessary assistance to the US
side.
I am confident that the American people
will be able to overcome the current difficulties, properly
handle problems in the aftermath and get life back to normal
as soon as possible.
This incident shows that
international terrorism has become a serious threat to world
peace and stability. It has made international cooperation
both necessary and pressing. We stand ready to enhance our
dialogue and cooperation with the US in cracking down on all
violent terrorist activities.
I am here on a
return visit to Secretary Powell’s visit to China last
July. Since the beginning of this year, our relations have
not developed very smoothly. Fortunately, with the concerted
efforts of both sides, they have returned to the track of
normal development and developed further in some
areas.
Now China-US relations face another
important opportunity for development.
The
meeting between President Jiang Zemin and President Bush in
Shanghai next month and President Bush’s visit to
Beijing will exert a far-reaching impact on the direction in
which our relations will develop. Right now, the two sides
are making every preparation for the meeting between the two
Presidents and President Bush’s visit to China. My
current visit is in fact part of the preparation. I note
with pleasure that our two sides have both shown the desire
to step up the preparations and strive for success of the
meeting and visit.
The development of China-US
relations in these years has shown again that there are no
insurmountable barriers between us though we may have
differences over this or that issue. What is most important
is to deepen mutual understanding and build up mutual
trust.
To achieve this requires both sides to,
first and foremost, discard prejudices and look at each
other objectively.
The development and progress
in China in recent years are for all to see.
In
the more than twenty years since China’s reform and
opening-up, the Chinese economy has kept growing at an
average annual rate of nine per cent. The socialist market
economy has roughly taken shape, so has the all-directional
opening-up pattern.
In spite of the global
economic slow-down, the Chinese economy has, since the
beginning of this year, still maintained a good growth. The
growth rate for the first half of the year was seven point
nine per cent and import and export grew by ten point six
per cent over the same period last year. We are taking
measures to promote a sustained and healthy development of
the national economy mainly by stimulating domestic
demand.
This year, we have begun to carry out
the Tenth Five-Year Plan. We will continue to advance reform
and opening-up, vigorously promote industrial restructuring
and upgrading, speed up the application of information
technology to economic development and actively implement
the three strategies of developing China’s west,
revitalizing China through science and education and seeking
a sustainable development. We will launch a number of
historical projects, such as transmitting gas and power from
China’s west to its east, building the Qinghai-Tibet
railway and improving the ecological environment of the
west.
Our objective is to double China’s
GDP in two thousand by twenty ten to reach two trillion US
dollars and generally realize modernization and build China
into an average developed country by the middle of this
century. It is by no means an easy job for a country like
China with a large population, a weak foundation and
relatively low levels of production. We have to devote great
efforts into these tasks. Still, we have full confidence in
our future.
Reform and opening-up have greatly
helped ensure people their rights to subsistence and
development as well as their political
rights.
While maintaining social stability and
ethnic harmony, China has successfully lifted over two
hundred million rural people out of poverty. The basic needs
for food and shelter of the more than one point two billion
people in the country have been by and large satisfied.
About three hundred million people already enjoy a
relatively comfortable life. Never before have the Chinese
people enjoyed so many opportunities for education,
employment, social security and medical
services.
China has made major progress in
improving democracy and rule of law. Several hundred million
rural people have participated in direct elections at the
grass-roots over the past three years. Many foreign friends
including Americans have seen such elections with their own
eyes. In China, people must abide by law and at the same
time they are protected by law. Common people may sue
government organs or officials.
The Chinese
citizens enjoy the freedom to have religious faith and
engage in religious activities in accordance with law. There
are over one hundred million religious believers,
eighty-five thousand religious sites, three hundred thousand
religious and clerical staff, three thousand religious
groups, and seventy-four religious schools and
colleges.
Minority people in Tibet and other
regions have enjoyed full protection of their religions,
languages and customs and habits. China and the US
differ in national conditions. It is nothing strange for the
two countries to have differences over such issues as human
rights. In case of differences, we should try to enhance
mutual understanding and expand consensus through dialogue,
instead of seeking confrontation. This is our consistent
position. So long as the principles of respecting each
other, treating each other as equals and seeking common
ground while shelving differences are observed, we will be
able to handle the differences properly and expand
cooperation.
China and the US will resume
inter-governmental dialogues on human rights soon, in line
with the agreement reached by the two sides. We hope that
the dialogue will produce positive results.
We
in China are vigorously pushing forward the reunification
process in accordance with the basic principle
of“peaceful reunification and one country, two
systems”.
Since the reform and
opening-up, economic cooperation and trade between the two
sides across the Taiwan Straits have expanded rapidly. At
present, their trade has amounted to over two hundred
billion us dollars. The investment that Taiwan has pledged
to the mainland totals over fifty billion US dollars. Over
the past ten years and more, there have been twenty million
visits from Taiwan to the mainland. We have proposed an
early resumption of the talks and dialogues between the two
sides of the Straits. We hope that the Taiwan authorities
will accept the “one China” principle at an
ear1y date so as to create conditions for the resumption of
the talks.
There is but one China in the world.
Both the mainland and Taiwan belong to one China.
China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity brook no
division.
We stand for peaceful reunification.
That is to say, we will try to settle the Taiwan question by
peaceful means. Once reunified peaceful1y with the mainland,
Taiwan may retain its own economic system and way of life.
It may also manage its own party, political and military
systems. It will enjoy judicial independence and the power
of final adjudication will not go to Beijing. This serves
not only the interests of the Chinese on both sides of the
Straits but also all the people in the world, the Americans
included. We are more eager than anyone else to see the
Taiwan question solved peacefully. However, we alone cannot
make it. To achieve a peaceful reunification, we cannot
afford to sit by without doing anything in face of any
attempt to split Taiwan from China. A proper
settlement of the Taiwan question holds the key to a smooth
development of China-US relations. We hope that the US side
will honor the clear-cut commitments it has made in the
three joint communiqués between China and the United
States, implement the one China policy and support the
peaceful reunification of China. If the US side does this, a
major obstacle in the way of developing China-US relations
will be removed and it is good for peace and stability in
the Taiwan Straits region.
The fundamental
objective of China’s foreign policy is to maintain
world peace and promote common development. We pursue an
independent foreign policy of peace. We would like to
develop friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial
cooperation with all countries. We should all treat each
other as equals.
Having suffered a lot from
wars, turmoil, poverty and hunger, China is deeply aware of
the value of peace and stability. The Chinese people love
peace and want peace. All the civilizations and
socia1systems in the world should be allowed to exist side
by side on a long-term basis. They should draw upon each
other’s merits and make up for their deficiencies in
the course of competition and comparison, and achieve common
development on the basis of seeking common ground while
shelving differences.
China’s policy of
national defense is defensive in nature. Its military
spending is only five per cent of that of the US. The
Chinese people know full well how to use the limited
resources rational1y. China has never taken part in any arms
race and will never do so.
The good news of
China’s successful bid for the two thousand and eight
Olympic Games on July thirteenth this year plunged the whole
nation, rural or urban, into jubilation. It has enabled the
world to see how an oriental country with an ancient
civilization respects and embraces the Olympic spirit, a
common heritage of mankind. It has also shown the world how
a rejuvenating nation longs for and pursues peace,
cooperation and friendship.
We heartily thank
all the friends who have supported Beijing’s bid for
the Olympic Games.
Ladies and
Gentlemen,
To enhance mutual understanding and
trust also requires both China and the US to view and
develop the common interests of the two countries in a
strategic perspective.
China and the US are
both permanent members of the UN Security Council and
nuclear weapons states. In face of the challenges and
opportunities in the new century, we both shoulder important
responsibilities for the future and destiny of the human
race. We should work together with all other countries to
turn the twenty-first century into a century of peace,
stability, security and prosperity.
Both China
and the US are in favor of necessary reforms to the UN so as
to uphold its authority and ensure its efficiency. Both of
us have worked hard to properly handle regional hotspots and
combat transnational crimes. We are glad that our two
countries have lately reached consensus on international
cooperation in the fight against HIV AIDS.
Both China and the US are important countries
in the Asia-Pacific. Peace and prosperity in the
Asia-Pacific are where the fundamental interests of our two
countries lie. China welcomes a positive and constructive
role by the US in this region, and is ready to increase
cooperation with the US in regional affairs.
We
both are major countries in energy and environmental
protection. We both hope to leave our sons and grandsons
fresher air, bluer sky and cleaner water. Closer cooperation
in this field will benefit our future
generations.
Economic cooperation and trade
between our two countries have directly benefited our two
peoples. The US export to China has created four hundred
thousand high-salary posts for the American people, while
China’s export to the US about one million jobs in
China. In the face of new challenges in the global economy,
closer consultations and collaboration between our two
countries in the fiscal and financial areas are particularly
important for guarding against regional financial turmoil
and promoting regional economic development.
China will become a member of the WTO. From
October the first, China will gradually relax its control
over the prices of one hundred and twenty categories of
commodities, leaving only thirteen categories of goods still
under the price control of the Government. In the coming
five Years, China’s total import is estimated to reach
as high as one point four trillion US dollars. I hope that
the US business community will not let slip such business
opportunities.
In October the Ninth APEC
Economic Leaders’ Meeting wi1l be held in Shanghai. As
important members of the APEC, both China and the US are
duty bound to strengthen coordination and cooperation to
make the meeting a great success and advance the cooperation
process in the Asia-pacific.
Ladies and
Gentlemen,
Although China-US relations have
experienced many twists and turns since nineteen
seventy-two, considerable progress has been made in a wide
range of areas. History tells us that cooperation benefits
both while confrontation hurts both. The Chinese Government
attaches much importance to its relations with the US and
the Chinese people have always cherished friendly feelings
towards the American people. We hope to work together with
you to develop a constructive and cooperative relationship
on the basis of the three China-US Joint
Communiqués.
Twenty-nine years ago, China
and the US opened their door to each other in pursuit of the
common goal. Twenty-nine years later today, we have all the
more reasons for stronger friendly ties and closer
cooperation. Let us enhance mutual understanding and trust
and promote a sound growth of China-US
relations.
Thank you.
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