Chinese diplomacy 'deep seeking' collaborations

While China-based AI engine newcomer DeepSeek captured attention and garnered support from app users and stock market traders, "deep" and "seek" coincidentally resonate with the country's longstanding commitments and endeavors across various domains, including foreign policy.

Exactly, China has been going quite deep, seeking peace and development with like-minded countries including the vast number of Global South nations, and even those who have publicly tried to coerce China.

Some seasoned Chinese diplomats also serve as the country's political advisers, that is, members of the National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

The word "deep" also stands out among some of their recent public comments.

Take one of the diplomats — Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng — as an example.

When addressing Duke University students and faculty at the Duke-UNC China Leadership Summit on Feb 28, Xie mentioned "deep/deeply" three times in his video speech.

"Bridges one after another have connected China and the United States across the Pacific, leaving us deeply interwoven," he said, outlining how the two countries have been linked tightly in the economy over the past decades.

He is right. Around 73,000 American companies are investing in China, and bilateral trade last year exceeded $680 billion.

As Xie had left the US and is now in Beijing attending the annual two sessions, he explained to the audience in the video that he could not join them in person and was glad to see "so many young friends continue to care for China-US relations".

Calling to join hands in the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, Xie said, "What we need is not a technological blockade, but 'deep seeking' for human progress." What a remarkable echo to the viral name "DeepSeek".

The major visions pursued by China in recent decades, such as the 12-year-old Belt and Road Initiative, also serve as a convincing reminder of how and why the country has been going deep and seeking mutual benefits with partners.

Liao Liqiang, the Chinese ambassador to Egypt and a member of the 14th National Committee of the CPPCC, noted in a recent article that China and Egypt have made a leap forward in their ties over the past "Golden Decade" and have seen "a deep synergy between the BRI and Egypt's Vision 2030".

Pakistan, a partner with China in rolling out the BRI and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, is considering sending a Pakistani astronaut to the Chinese space station. This has made headlines before the opening of this year's two sessions.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif witnessed the signing of a cooperation agreement on potential spaceflight on Feb 28 in Islamabad.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian was also asked about this news for comment at the daily news conference on Monday. Lin said, "We focus on sharing with all humanity the results of China's development and offer opportunities for cooperation in China's space station."

After the news conference, Muhammad Asghar, a correspondent for the Associated Press of Pakistan in China, told me, "China is doing a big thing to take along other countries, neighboring countries, giving them a chance."

Regarding the rapidly changing global and regional landscapes, going deep and harnessing long-term, win-win results sounds unrealistic for some people. Many scholars and readers asked me how China would approach the overarching goal it set for its major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics-building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Now the answer could not be even more evident. China will achieve this goal of "seeking deep" alongside various nations.

As an ancient Chinese idiom goes, "Still water runs deep."