On the evening of April 2, 2024, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with United States President Joe Biden on the phone at the request of the latter. The two presidents had a candid and in-depth exchange of views on China-U.S. relations and issues of mutual interest.
President Xi Jinping noted that his San Francisco meeting with President Biden last November opened a future-oriented San Francisco vision. Xi also said over the past months, their officials ave acted on the presidential understandings in arnest. Xi further said that the China-U.S. relationship is beginning to stabilize, and this is welcomed by both societies nd the international community.
“On the other hand, the negative factors f the relationship have lso been growing, and this requires attention from both sides,” Xi said.
Xi also stressed that the issue of strategic perception is always fundamental to the China-U.S. relationship, just like the first button of a shirt that must be put right.
According to Xi, “Two big countries ike China and the United States should not cut off their ties or turn their back on each other, still less slide into conflict or confrontation. The two countries hould respect each other, coexist in peace, and pursue a win-win cooperation. The relationship should continue moving forward in a table, sound, nd sustainable way, rather than going backward.”
Xi however underlined three verarching principles that should guide hina-U.S. relations in 2024.
“First, peace ust be valued. The two sides should put a floor f no conflict and no confrontation nder the relationship and keep reinforcing the ositive outlook of he relationship. Second, stability ust be prioritized. The two sides should refrain from setting the relationship back, provoking incident or rossing the line to aintain the overall stability of the relationship. Third, credibility ust be upheld. The two sides should honour their ommitments to each other with action and turn the San Francisco vision into reality. They eed to strengthen dialogue in a mutually respectful way, manage differences prudently, advance cooperation in the spirit of mutual benefit, and step-up coordination on international affairs in responsible way,” Xi stated.
Xi also stressed that the Taiwan question is the first red line that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations, while also stating China’s position on Hong Kong-related issues, human rights, the South China Sea, and other issues.
On his part, Biden noted that the U.S.-China relationship is the most consequential relationship in the world, while also saying that the progress in the relationship since the San Francisco meeting demonstrates that the two sides can advance cooperation, while responsibly managing differences.
Biden reiterated that the United States does not seek a new Cold War, its objective is not to change China’s system, its alliances are not targeted against China and the U.S. does not support “Taiwan independence,” nd the U.S. does not seek conflict with China.
“The U.S. follows the one-China policy,” Biden told Xi during the telephone conversation.
The two presidents found the phone call to be candid and constructive. The two sides agreed to stay in communication and tasked their teams to deliver on the San Francisco vision, including advancing the consultation mechanisms on diplomatic, economic, financial, commercial and other issues, as well as mil-to-mil communication, carrying out dialogue and cooperation in such areas as counternarcotics, artificial intelligence and climate response, taking further steps to expand people-to-people exchanges and enhancing communication on international and regional issues.
The Chinese side welcomed visits to China by United States Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen and Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, n the near future.
Taiwan’s Status Undetermined? A Fallacy
By Yi Xin
Severing “diplomatic” ties with China’s Taiwan region, Nauru recently became the 183rd country to recognize the fact that the government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory.
In some corners, however, this indisputable fact continues to run into denialism. Laura Rosenberger, Chair of the “American Institute in Taiwan,” told reporters she thought Nauru’s move was “unfortunate” and “disappointing.” “U.N. Resolution 2758 did not make a determination on the status of Taiwan, did not preclude any countries from having diplomatic relationships with Taiwan and did not preclude Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the U.N. system,” she said.
Her smattering of international affairs is shocking.
In fact, Resolution 2758 definitively states that it “decides to restore all its rights to the People’s Republic of China and to recognize the representatives of its government as the only legitimate representatives of China to the United Nations, and to expel forthwith, the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek from the place which they unlawfully occupy at the United Nations and in all the organizations related to it.”
Would the U.N. have expelled the representatives of a sovereign state?
In addition to delivering an emphatic conclusion, Resolution 2758 also represents a process during which any ambiguity about Taiwan’s status was removed. The minutes of debates leading to its adoption show that sponsors of the resolution urged UN General Assembly not to partition China’s territory just because the Chiang Kai-shek clique was entrenched in Taiwan region and regarded the draft resolution as “a question of credentials,” i.e. who are the only lawful representatives of China to the United Nations, not about “admission of new Members to the United Nations.”
When some tried to smuggle “dual representation” into the draft resolution, they were met with strong opposition. Their motions were considered “illegal and clearly inconsistent with current reality, justice and the principles of the U.N. Charter.” With their votes for Resolution 2758, U.N. member states made it clear there are no “two Chinas,” or “one China, one Taiwan.”
Yi is a Beijing-based commentator on international affairs.
Picture taken on April 17, 2024, shows the combination of the Shenzhou-18 crewed spaceship and a Long March-2F carrier rocket being transferred to the launching area of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua)
Why Warren Buffett-Backed BYD Becomes a “New” Success
Those who are familiar with the business world would know BYD, a Chinese automaker that is backed by Warren Buffett. It is headquartered in Guangdong Province in Southeastern China, the largest province of the country in terms of economy and foreign trade. In 2023, BYD sold more than 3.02 million New Energy Vehicles (NEVs), ranking first in the world. For every five NEVs sold globally, there would be one from BYD.
Is BYD’s “new” success incidental? Wang Chuanfu, founder and Chief Executive Officer of BYD, shared his thoughts at a high-quality development conference held in Guangdong on February 18. “These achievements are an epitome of Guangdong’s commitment to prioritizing manufacturing, accelerating the development of new quality productive forces and achieving high-quality development,” Wang said.
The term “New Quality Productive Forces (NQPF)” was written into China’s annual government work report in 2024, and has since become a buzzword. In the report, “striving to modernize the industrial system and developing new quality productive forces at a faster pace” is set as the first major task for 2024. The report lists more than 10 industries, including intelligent, connected new energy vehicles that are regarded as NQPF.
In order to promote the development of NQPF, Guangdong Province has been actively launching industrial innovation projects, improving the industrial ecosystem, expanding application of innovations, and promoting integrated and clustered development of strategic emerging industries. There are not only national champions such as BYD in the province, but also a large number of less visible champions with great creativity and excellent achievements in specific segments. For example, a company called RoboSense, also based in Guangdong Province, mainly produces LiDAR – “the eyes of NEVs.” Benefiting a lot from Guangdong’s full-fledged automotive supply chain both upstream and downstream, the company delivered more than 250,000 LiDAR units in 2023, ranking first nationwide. Nine of the top 10 Chinese automakers by sales use LiDAR produced by RoboSense. Such outstanding performance of upstream operators have laid a solid foundation for BYD’s “new” success.
Look across the whole country and you’ll find that BYD’s “new” success is not an isolated case, and the region-specific effort to develop NQPF is continuously producing new outcomes. In 2023, China accounted for over 60 percent of global NEV output and sales, and there was a 30-percent increase in exports of the “new trio,” namely, electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, and photovoltaic products. China’s traditional industries saw accelerated transformation and upgrading, strategic emerging industries achieved vigorous growth, and groundwork was laid for developing industries of the future. Advanced manufacturing was further integrated with modern services, and a number of world-class innovations were made in major industries. It is increasingly clear that NQPF does not mean isolated, sporadic breakthroughs. Instead, it means connecting scattered dots of breakthroughs into lines and lines into a network, which will drive the development of complete industrial chains, entire industries and the whole society, and produce a multiplying effect.
In Guangdong, you will find a myriad of high-tech enterprises like BYD, all sparking with inspiration and creativity. If you take a bird’s eye view of Guangdong, these sparkling dots, when connected, form a highly efficient and collaborative virtual network providing a constant source of economic dynamism. This dynamism is the reason behind BYD’s “new” success.
This undated photo shows Chinese astronauts Ye Guangfu (C), Li Cong (R) and Li Guangsu who will carry out the Shenzhou-18 spaceflight mission. Chinese astronauts Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu will carry out the Shenzhou-18 crewed spaceflight mission, and Ye will be the commander, the China Manned Space Agency announced at a press conference on Wednesday. (Xinhua)
China Focus: What Prepares China for 2024 GDP Growth Target?
China’s economic performance for the first quarter of this year was unveiled recently, showing a strong start with robust growth and improved quality and efficiency.
In January-March this year, China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 5.3 percent year on year to 29.63 trillion yuan (about 4.17 trillion U.S. dollars), while fixed-asset investment and investment in high-tech industries climbed 4.5 percent and 11.4 percent, respectively.
Also, the surveyed urban unemployment rate stood at 5.2 percent in March, down 0.1 percentage points compared with both February this year and March 2023, indicating a generally stable employment situation.
Reacting to the development, the Deputy Head of the National Bureau of Statistics, Sheng Laiyun, told a press conference that the national economy has sustained recovery momentum and got off to a good start.
“These positive factors driving economic recovery are accumulating and strengthening, laying a good foundation for full-year growth,” said Sheng.
However, amid a challenging and complex external environment, issues such as insufficient effective demand and weak social expectations linger in the country. More efforts are needed to consolidate and further the positive momentum of the economic recovery.