Contradictions

China is an Asia-Pacific country. I often told my American friends that we are more indigenous in this region. We have been here for thousands of years. So our Asia-Pacific policy is shaped by our own interest being an Asia-Pacific country, as well as the common interest of all Asia-Pacific countries. We will promote these policies by all means. We will not let the core of our policies be shaken by the policies of others. This means, we will act accordingly to other countries' changes, especially to those of the US because they will have big influence.

There are many contradictions in the policies of the US, such as its attitude toward Diaoyu Islands. Many people would doubt whether the US expressed clearly its real strategic intentions. I think these doubts make sense despite of denial from the US side. However whether the denial or the doubts are real depends on the actions of the US and future development of issues.

For China, every bilateral relation, no matter if it's Sino-US, China-Japan, or US-Japan, should be more mutually beneficial than hostile against each other. We never thought to weaken the US-Japan relations by developing Sino-US or Sino-Japan relations. We hope the three countries could be a boost to each other. Having said that, it is up to oneself to decide what one wants.

Old issues

China and the US will always have differences at all times because we are different nations. There won't be a day when China and the US don't have any issues. The strength of Sino-US relations lies in the willingness and capability of both sides to manage the differences and push the relationship forward while tackling problems.

Some old issues are always there including the issues of Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang. These will exist for a long time. In the meantime new issues keep rising, such as Internet security and trade friction. This is very easy to understand. With such large trade and investment volume, it is normal to have frictions.

Some international and regional issues will find their way onto bilateral agenda. Faced with these issues, both sides need to set the same goal, to build a new model of major-country relations featuring no-conflict, no-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, so that the history of big countries falling and rising won't repeat itself.