China has no reason to challenge international order: FM
Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to the U.S. will bolster mutual trust and cooperation, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Wednesday at the 14th Lanting Forum in Beijing.
The forum is hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is a platform to discuss issues of common interest between nations.
Xi will make a state visit to the U.S. from September 22 to 25 at the invitation of U.S. President Barack Obama, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang announced Wednesday morning at a separate press briefing.
At the invitation of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Xi will also visit the UN headquarters in New York to attend a series of events to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the UN from September 26 to 28.
During his first State visit to the U.S., Xi will elaborate on his view that peace will bring mutual benefit, while conflict will harm both sides, Wang said.
He said that both sides are expected to reach consensus in the fields of finance and trade, climate change, energy, environmental protection, science and technology, agriculture, law enforcement, defense, aviation, infrastructure, cultural and people-to-people exchanges.
"This visit is in the interests of friendly cooperation between China and the U.S., and is also in the interests of world peace and development. It will surely be a milestone for Sino-U.S. relations," Wang said.
Xi's visit will focus on boosting trust, and on trying to resolve U.S. worries that China and the U.S. contradict each other when dealing with issues such as international relations and the Asia-Pacific order, Wang said.
He noted that there is no reason why China should challenge the international order that is based on the victory against fascism, and there is no incentive for China to overturn the international system, in which it is a full member.
In the meantime, Wang stressed that the international order and system should go through reforms and be adaptive to development and progress in international relations.
Dialogue a necessity
As both countries have certain doubts and worries about each other's strategic intentions, it is necessary for the two heads of state to calm each other down via dialogue, preventing disputes from being upgraded into conflicts or even regional wars, Zhu Feng, director of the Collaborative Innovation Center of South China Sea Studies under Nanjing University, told the Global Times Wednesday.
Amid these hard-to-solve issues, Xi's visit will show China's strong conviction that the Asia-Pacific region and the world must be stabilized, Zhu said.
"We hope that the two sides will reaffirm each one's own development direction and strategic view, increasing common interest and responsibility to safeguard world peace, stability and development," Wang said.
"In addition to reaffirming their stances, progress should be made on some specific disputes in order to boost trust tangibly," Liu Weidong, a research fellow with the Institute of U.S. Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Wednesday, citing cyber attacks and the South China Sea as examples.
Liu said that China should at least take the position that there will be room to discuss critical issues. Meanwhile, the U.S. should agree not to push China too hard over issues such as the South China Sea dispute.
China and the U.S. can formulate rules to restrict cyber attacks to a certain degree as well as a "tacit" agreement that China will guarantee the extent of militarizing reclaimed islands in the South China Sea, which will satisfy the U.S., he said.
Wang said Xi's visit will set the future tone for both countries, expanding common interests and enriching the concept of a new type of major power relationship proposed by Xi two years ago.
Su Ge, president of the China Institute of International Studies, said on Wednesday that this new major power relationship could provide a road map for the direction of future bilateral ties, the details of which could be expounded after Xi's visit.
Echoing Su, Yuan Peng, vice president of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times at the forum that the meetings between Xi and Obama will set the tone for the future development of diplomatic relations.
Civilian exchanges
"Warming up to American people will be a feature for Xi's upcoming visit," Wang said, adding that Xi will talk with state politicians, entrepreneurs, teachers and students.
A series of measures to promote civilian exchanges between the two countries will be announced during Xi's trip, he said.
"Such activities are not arranged for every state visit of Chinese leaders," Liu said, pointing out that Xi's interactions with the American people come as a result of widespread misunderstanding about China.
Xi's dialogues with U.S. entrepreneurs will boost confidence in doing business in China after their concerns are heard and China expresses its goodwill toward them, Liu noted.
