US urged to get back on right track in dialogue

To debunk some US politicians' preference to blame China for miscellaneous problems in the United States, a senior Chinese diplomat has said that "to destabilize China is by no means a solution to the US' problems".

"For a superpower like the US, the biggest challenge is always itself," Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Yucheng said in an interview with Chinese news portal guancha.com published on Saturday, covering a wide range of topics related to the world's two largest economies.

"We have no strategy for seeking hegemony but for our own development, and our goal is to realize the people's aspiration for a better life," Le said.

The interview came at a time when the bilateral ties have seen no major signs of relief from strains in recent months, as Washington has continued to publicly discredit or denounce China on issues ranging from cutting-edge technology and infrastructure to the COVID-19 pandemic and human rights.

Le said Beijing hopes that Washington can return to reason and the track of dialogue and cooperation, and the US should neither take confrontation against China as its policy nor consider suppression of China to be "politically correct".

"To mess up China-US relations and bring the two major powers of the world into confrontation and conflict is most politically incorrect," Le said.

Friday marked the 50th anniversary of former US national security adviser Henry Kissinger's icebreaking secret trip to China in 1971 in the lead-up to the two countries' establishment of diplomatic ties.

In the past 50 years, China-US engagement and cooperation accomplished many major things for the world, solved many difficult problems, and addressed major global challenges such as terrorism and the international financial crisis, Le noted.

The benefits that people and enterprises in the US obtained from China "were unimaginable 50 years ago. How can they say the US engagement with China has failed and is outdated?" Le said.

On the human rights issues, Le said some Western countries led by the US "are not in a position to talk about democracy and human rights with China because of their own deplorable human rights record", as they have committed genocide against the aboriginal people and discriminated against and persecuted minority groups.

The diplomat used the sarcastic Chinese proverb "a weasel pays a Lunar New Year courtesy visit to a chicken" regarding such countries' attacks and "concerns" about human rights in China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

"Most US bombs have fallen on the land of Muslim countries in the past years. The US is the first in the world to release the anti-Muslim ban. Strangely, it cares about 'human rights' of Chinese Muslims who lead a happy life in Xinjiang. Isn't it groundless and absurd?" Le said.

As the Communist Party of China has led 1.4 billion Chinese people to eliminate extreme poverty and live a happier life, it can be said that the Party is blameless on human rights issues, and it deserves a medal, he added.

Earlier this year, Washington proposed the Build Back Better World, or B3W, infrastructure plan, in a bid to counter the China-led Belt and Road Initiative.

Le said the B3W plan cannot compete with the BRI, but further proves the BRI is "right and promising".

The success of the BRI lies in translating it into reality with down-to-earth efforts, such as building roads, bridges and tunnels, and the BRI is open and inclusive, Le said.

"We hope that Western countries led by the US can earnestly carry out infrastructure plans, build more roads and bridges for developing countries, and bring them more jobs and benefits instead of eagerly interfering in the internal affairs of other countries and arbitrarily exporting Western values," Le said.

When asked about origin tracing of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, Le said the US should not "hold a flashlight to check out on others but not on itself".

"If the US does care about the truth and transparency, it should accept international investigation, and make clear the source of the pandemic in the US, the causes of the US failure to fight the pandemic and the problems existing in the US bio-labs," he said.