Ambassador Zhou calls for more U.S.-China cooperation

Zhou, China’s ambassador to the United States since 2005, addressed a packed audience in Dodds Auditorium as he discussed the Chinese economy and the need for a dynamic and mutually beneficial relationship between the United States and China in his lecture, titled “China-U.S. Relations in the New Era.”

This year marks the 30th anniversary of formal diplomatic relations between China and the United States. “After 30 years of hard work, the China-U.S. relationship has become one of the most dynamic ... relationships in the world,” Zhou said.

He acknowledged an increase in communication, trade, sister cities and exchange students as indicative of the growing bond between China and the United States.

“Such development is beyond the wildest imagination of even the most optimistic prophets of [the] China-U.S. relationship 30 years ago,” Zhou added.

He noted that the China-U.S. relationship has always involved mutual interests. In the early 1970s, the two countries came together as a result of strategic interests during the Cold War, he said.

Today, China and the United States remain closely linked based on a shared “responsibility for maintaining world peace and stability,” Zhou said.

Because the United States and China are, respectively, the largest developed nation and the largest developing nation, both countries have a great deal of influence in the world and have “enormous potential to work together to address issues,” Zhou added.

But Zhou identified the relationship between the United States and Taiwan as a potential challenge to the further development of China-U.S. relations.

“To ensure smooth development of just China-U.S. relations, we must abide by the principles of the three Joint Communiques,” Zhou said, explaining that “at the heart of the Joint Communiques is the One-China policy,” which states that there is only one China and that Taiwan belongs to China.

The United States acknowledged the One-China policy upon signing the Joint Communiques in the 1970s. The agreements formally re-established diplomatic relations between the two nations.

Zhou also discussed the impact of the global economic downturn on China. The Chinese government has responded to the crisis, he explained, by boosting domestic demand, improving infrastructure and promoting sustainable and intensive economic development. The government’s actions are “already paying off,” Zhou said, noting that China’s GDP grew by 6.1 percent in the first quarter of 2009. There is sufficient liquidity in Chinese banks, and people have gained more confidence in the market, he added.

Zhou said that the current financial crisis is not solely China’s problem but “the most serious challenge to the world economy since the Great Depression.”

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“We’re all in the same boat, and we must row very hard,” he said.

Zhou said he believed developed and developing nations should take on “differentiated responsibilities” toward preventing climate change. He added that he hoped “developed countries would help developing countries” in achieving that goal.

When asked during the question-and-answer session about the recent imprisonment and torture of human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, Zhou explained, “No one would be prosecuted if he abides by the law in China ... No one would be prosecuted simply because he holds view that are different from [the government].”

Students who attended the lecture said they were impressed by Zhou’s discussion of the United States’ and China’s mutual interests.

“He did a really good job with the financial issues,” Michael Gibbs ’12 said.

Benjamin Yao ’12 echoed Gibbs’ assessment, adding that Zhou “really highlighted how [the United States] and China have shared interests and how important it is for us to work together as allies.”