China, US need cooperation to solve differences

China and the United States should face up to and solve their differences in a calm and objective way, as cooperation is the only right choice for both sides, Fu Ying, a former Chinese vice-foreign minister, said in a video speech delivered to the China Development Forum on Saturday.

The cooperation should be open, sincere and win-win in nature, instead of trying to interfere in each other's country's internal affairs or ganging up on China, Fu said.

Fu, who is now chair of the Center for International Strategy and Security at Tsinghua University, said the Chinese side finds that wrong moves made by the US side in recent years are incomprehensible and unacceptable.

While it seems the China-US relationship has hit a plateau after experiencing a sharp decline, the key for the continuing development of this relationship depends on whether China and the US can solve each other's reasonable concerns within the same international order framework and realize peaceful coexistence, Fu said.

Fu said it is important to start with the end in mind when dealing with bilateral relations. Only in this way will the two countries overcome differences and focus on cooperation.

She recalled that even 50 years ago when the two countries knew nothing about each other, China and the US had realized their important common interests and successfully overcome their differences and finally realized the "ice-breaking" of China-US relations.

Today, the two countries have established profound cooperative relations in such areas as trade and economy, as well as people-to-people exchanges, Fu said, but the two countries' differences are no longer as huge as they were 50 years ago.

China's prosperity and development also benefited from the comprehensive exchanges and cooperation with other countries around the world, including the US, she said.

While people in the 21st century are faced with risks and challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, digital security and the application of artificial intelligence technologies, global cooperation is of great necessity, Fu said.

The China-US relationship today not only concerns the interests of the two countries, but also the world as a whole, she said, and that's why the international community pays so much attention to the China-US relationship and has so much expectation for China-US cooperation.