At a March 2 talk on China-United States relations at the Asia Society in New York, former US ambassador to China Nicholas Burns offered a candid reflection.
After three years living in China, his wife Libby Baylies told him that "we need to work on our own strength at home".
Burns noted that his wife had traveled on China's high-speed rails and witnessed firsthand the country's advances in manufacturing and its strength in electric vehicles, lithium batteries and solar panels. Other panelists echoed the sentiment. Sarah Beran, former US charge d'affaires to China, observed that China's leaders probably spend 90 percent of their time on China, not on thinking about the US or great power competition.
"And we really need to do the same," said Beran, a China specialist and a retired career diplomat. Ryan Hass, director of the John Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution and a former official at the White House National Security Council, offered a similar perspective on China.
Interestingly, Burns himself has long been regarded as a China hawk and has spent much of his time trying to undermine China's rise.
China and the US are indeed two very different countries. The contrast is most visible in their approaches to world affairs. The US, along with Israel, is waging an illegal war against Iran, a war denounced even by US allies such as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
The aggression has caused enormous destruction in Iran, and is a huge blow to global energy security, food security and the global economy.
Gulf countries with US military bases were caught in the crossfire. The conflict could be the beginning of a much bigger regional and global crisis if a diplomatic solution is not found soon. Earlier this year, the US launched a military strike in Venezuela to abduct its president Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. It has also threatened Cuba.
The US oil embargo has resulted in a nationwide power outage. Pictures of neonatal nurses in Cuba manually pumping respirators to keep infants alive are heartbreaking.
While the US displays its military might and coercive power, China convened the annual two sessions — annual meetings of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) — to roll out the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), its development plan for the next five years.
China is pushing for high-quality and innovation-led development and expanding high-level opening up to create more opportunities for businesses from around the world.
These messages were reflected at the China Development Forum in Beijing on March 22 and 23, drawing many global business leaders and scholars. The same spirit is evident at the 25th annual Boao Forum for Asia held this week on Hainan island. The forum, which ends on March 27, has gathered government and business leaders and scholars under the theme of "Shaping a Shared future — New Dynamics, New Opportunities, New Cooperation".
Even as geopolitical tensions persist, China continues to promote multilateralism and global cooperation. It has been the leading engine of global development, contributing between 20 to 30 percent of global economic growth since 1979. That momentum will continue despite many new challenges, according to various forecasts.
While the US threatens the world with punitive tariffs, China has announced zero tariffs effective May 1 for 53 African countries. The move will boost the exports of African nations and increase their access to the vast Chinese market.
At the Asia Society talk, Burns acknowledged another telling contrast. While China's foreign ministers have made Africa their first overseas destination of the year for the past 36 years, and Chinese President Xi Jinping has visited Africa multiple times, former US president Joe Biden visited Africa only once, near the end of his term.
The US has followed an interventionist foreign policy of messing around the world. China, on the other hand, has been laser-focused on doing a good job at home for its 1.4 billion people and contributing to global stability and development. Some remarks at the Asia Society event captured this reality.