Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi: U.S. Must Abandon Its Cold War Mentality; If They Treat Us Like An Enemy, This Will Become A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

On May 31, 2022, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke at the "Dr. Kissinger and China-U.S. Relations" symposium. He said that the world is faced with new challenges and that countries should join hands in building a world with a shared future and shared security, interconnectivity, development, diversity, and inclusiveness. He said that the United States and China share an obligation to take on this task, but that the damage done to U.S.-China relations by the Trump administration has not yet been repaired. He also said that U.S.-China relations cannot be allowed to deteriorate anymore, and that America must abandon its "extreme anxiety" and Cold War mentality. In addition, he warned that if the U.S. treats China as an enemy, this will become a "self-fulfilling prophecy." Wang’s address was posted to the CCTV Video News Agency YouTube channel on June 2, 2022.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi: "As an old Chinese saying goes, a man with a great virtue enjoys longevity. Benjamin Franklin, one of the U.S. founding fathers, observed that if one wants to win immortality for one's name, he/she needs to do two things: either write things worth reading or do things worth writing. Dr. Kissinger, you have done both.

"The world today is faced with new changes unseen in a century. The raging COVID-19 pandemic, the prolonged Russia-Ukraine conflict and the darkening clouds of the Cold War all call for an answer from us to this question: Where should the world go? We should join hands in building a world with a shared future and shared security, a world of interconnectivity, openness and development, a world of diversity and inclusiveness with common progress, a world that leaves no country or individual behind, a world filled with possibilities and promising future.

"Building such a world is an obligation and responsibility that China and the United States must take on. Whether they can manage their relations well is a question of the century, to which the two countries must give a good answer. President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden both agree that China and the United States should respect each other, coexist in peace and avoid confrontation.

"President Biden reiterated on multiple occasions the five important pledges of the U.S. side, including not seeking a new Cold War with China and not supporting Taiwan independence. But in reality, the China-U.S. relationship has not stepped out of the difficult situation created by the previous U.S. administration. It is even facing more and more challenges.

"The narration of China-U.S. relationship histories is being deliberately distorted, and its future is in danger of being further taken in the wrong direction. The relationship cannot be allowed to deteriorate anymore. We must make the right choice. It is imperative to build the right strategic perception and to abandon the Cold War mentality.

"The current atmosphere surrounding China-U.S. relations is quite abnormal. The U.S. side's extreme anxiety is totally unnecessary. China's overwhelming task is to focus on its own development and meet the people's aspirations for a better life. If the U.S. insists on taking China as a threat or even an enemy, it will be a self-fulfilling prophecy, bringing disasters to the two countries and the entire humanity. It is imperative to consolidate the political foundation and properly manage differences."