WASHINGTON — The US-China relationship will be defined by strategic competition for decades to come, but should involve engagement when the two countries' interests are aligned, the US ambassador to China said on Friday, a month after President Joe Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping to stabilize the tense relations.
Nicholas Burns said the US and China are “competing for both global power and regional power” as they compete militarily, politically and economically.
“I think we are systematic rivals, when you think about our national security and economic and political interests around the world,” Burns said at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank.
Still, the two countries must work together on issues such as climate change, narcotics, global health and food security, he said.
“No one in their right mind should want this relationship to spiral into conflict or war,” he said. “So we're going to develop a relationship where we can compete, but as the president says, competing responsibly, reducing the potential for conflict and bringing our people together in a balanced relationship is one way to do that.”
Washington is recalibrating its relationship with Beijing after several years of tumult that began with the imposition of tariffs on Chinese goods under the Trump administration. Ties have further deteriorated due to the COVID-19 pandemic and military tensions in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.
Last month, Biden met with Xi in Woodside, California, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. The two leaders pledged to stabilize relations and agreed to combat illicit fentanyl and restore military communications.
But disagreements over economic competition and global security persist.
On Thursday evening, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the US-China Business Council that the Biden administration wants to strengthen relations with like-minded countries but has also established economic working groups with China to exchange information.
The Biden administration has kept in place tariffs imposed by the previous administration on some Chinese goods and tightened export controls and investment in high-tech areas such as advanced chips.
Xi also sent a letter to the business council, urging the group and its members to “build more bridges for friendly exchanges” and expand cooperation. He promised to build a better business environment in China.
“The Chinese-style modernization will create more opportunities for global companies, including American companies,” Xi's letter said.
China's economy slowed in the third quarter as global demand for Chinese exports faltered and the ailing real estate sector fell deeper into crisis.