Chinese FM urges U.S. to view China's development objectively

Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) meets with Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan in Singapore, on Sept. 13, 2021. (Xinhua/Then Chih Wey)

The United States should be aware that not only the United States but also other countries have the rights to seek development; not only the people in the United States but also the people of other countries have the rights to lead a happy life, Wang said.

SINGAPORE, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday urged the United States to view China's development in an objective and rational way.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Wang said he hoped the United States would view, like Singapore and many other countries, China's development objectively and seek to expand mutually beneficial cooperation with China.

Wang said that during his meeting with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, he expressed appreciation to Singapore for viewing China's development in a rational, fair and objective way, and for its efforts to find cooperation opportunities from China's development so as to achieve mutual success and joint development.

"This has brought tangible benefits to the peoples of the two countries," Wang said.

However, Wang pointed out that there are countries and forces that take a suspicious approach to or even make serious misjudgement about China's development. This goes against efforts to boost cooperation and disrupt the development of normal relations, Wang said, adding this might be the way the United States is behaving.

The United States should be aware that not only the United States but also other countries have the rights to seek development; not only the people in the United States but also the people of other countries have the rights to lead a happy life, Wang said.

It's neither fair nor suitable for humanity's basic conscience to let one or just a few countries to develop, while other countries are left in poverty, he added.

He hopes that the United States can view today's China with an objective and rational way like many other countries including Singapore, seeking and expanding mutually beneficial cooperation with China.

As the two largest economies in the world, the China-U.S. cooperation benefits the world, Wang said. He urged the United States to abandon zero-sum mentality and learn to seek peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation with other nations and civilizations, so as to jointly build a peaceful, harmonious, stable and prosperous world, Wang said.

For his part, Balakrishnan said the United States is the most developed country that has a major influence in the world, but China's emergence has been the most successful story in this region over the past 40 years.

He hoped China and the United States can compete with each other in a constructive manner, take steps to manage tension and cooperate in addressing global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, so as to work with countries in this region to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.