National Bureau of Asian Research / Fudan University Conference

Remarks by Ambassador Jon Huntsman at the
National Bureau of Asian Research / Fudan University Conference
Videotaped
October 22, 2009

 

AMBASSADOR HUNTSMAN:  Good morning, everyone.  I’d like to welcome you all to the NBR (National Bureau of Asian Research)/Fudan University Conference.  I’m delighted to be able to offer a few thoughts and remarks as you begin your journey today.

First and foremost, I want to welcome those who are from outside of China to China and tell you that you’re at a very exciting and dynamic university right in Shanghai.  In particular, I would like to welcome Dr. Shen Dingli who is the Director of the CAS and Executive Vice Dean of the Institute of International Affairs.  I’d also like to offer a warm welcome to Dr. Ren Xiao, who is a professor and Associate Dean at the Institute of International Studies.  I’d like to also offer a welcome to my good friend Dr. Rich Ellings, who is the head of NBR, but who, unfortunately, is not able to be in attendance today.  I’d also like to say hello to Roy Kamphausen, who is Senior Vice President for Political and Security Affairs and Director of NBR’s Washington, D.C. office.

I’ve long been associated with NBR.  In fact, I served on your board for seven years and thoroughly enjoyed my engagement and involvement.

So here we are at the 60^th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.  We have all witnessed the incredible political and economic growth of the last 30 years. 

When President Carter sent Zbigniew Brzezinski to China in the summer of 1978 to initiate the secret negotiations that resulted, in December 1978, in the normalization of U.S.-PRC relations, only 1,200 foreigners were even living in Beijing.  Now we have more attached to the U.S. embassy alone. 

Thirty years ago, no private cars were on the road.  Now we see 50 million and growing with each passing year.  GDP has increased 82-fold in that time.

Just as China’s economic growth has implications for the world economy, its foreign policy has implications for the international system.  So what direction will China’s foreign policy take?  I’d like to highlight three trends in particular for your consideration as you proceed with your discussion of the foreign policy of a rising China.

First, for China’s leaders the traditional way of viewing the world still pretty much prevails.  Most of the new foreign policy initiatives coming out of Beijing are within the economic realm.  China’s economic policy is audacious; its foreign policy remains cautious.  As Deng Xiaoping put it, "tao guang yang hui": "hiding one’s capabilities and biding time." 

Domestic considerations, economic development, and maintaining social stability very much drive China’s foreign policy.  Emphasis has been on bordering countries, overcoming territorial conflicts, and maintaining stable relations with its neighbors.  President Hu’s speech last month at the UN General Assembly reaffirmed China’s commitment to the harmonious world concept and the continuing emphasis on non-interference.

Americans respect and are attracted by China’s dynamism, the boldness of its economic reform, the ambitiousness of its development projects.  And we hope to see China apply its newfound influence to international problems like Iran’s nukes or Burma’s governance.

The second trend is very much an evolving relationship between the United States and China that is truly based on mutual respect, understanding, and increasingly, our shared interests.  President Obama has expressed his clear commitment to pursuing a genuinely positive, cooperative, and comprehensive relationship with China.  Cooperative because we share so many of the same views about problems in the world.  Comprehensive because our relationship today has implications far beyond our immediate bilateral concerns.  A more dynamic and effective U.S.-China relationship will help us confront together the growing number of common global and regional challenges that our countries face.

China has benefited from the world political and economic architecture and the more it embraces the norms of the international community the more it will prosper.

While China still references non-interference in its foreign policy approach, it is also emphasizing more the second half of Deng Chao-ping’s dictum, "you suo zuo wei," or "getting something accomplished."  It is in China’s own interest to take on more of a leadership role to strengthen the international system from which it has greatly benefited.

Third, in the 30 years since establishing diplomatic relations, the U.S.-China relationship has very much evolved from simply the bilateral to more of a global outlook.  Resolution of our most vexing international problems today depend on the ability of the U.S. and China to work together, overcome differences, and find real solutions.

We must engage China as it comes to see interests as global in nature and graduates to global citizenship.  Precisely because we share many challenges, we must work with China to develop real shared solutions.  Our challenge, as we make room for China to take its rightful place at the international table, is to help and encourage China to use its deep reservoir of energy and talent to help solve the world’s problems and build a safer, more just and stable tomorrow.

Our program ahead to work with China to deal with global problems is rich and varied and urgent.

On energy, for example, the U.S. and China share common interests and challenges in ensuring stable supplies and prices and in developing and deploying clean energy technologies.  I saw this firsthand when I attended the 4^th U.S.-China Energy Policy Dialogue last month in Qingdao.  Our discussions highlighted how the U.S. oil and gas industry can work together with Chinese firms in developing new and renewable sources of energy.

I am confident that President Obama’s November visit to China will highlight our cooperation on clean energy and the environment.

Initiatives like the Clean Energy Research Center that Secretary Chu announced in July show great promise in helping both countries meet enormous future energy needs.

President Obama has identified clean energy and climate change as one of the priority areas in the bilateral relationship and negotiated a new clean energy and climate change MOU at the recent Strategic and Economic Dialogue held in Washington, D.C.  We are also working with China in the UN climate change negotiations to reach a new international agreement.

As China takes steps to address climate change domestically, the meeting in Copenhagen in December will be an important opportunity to show its commitment to the international effort against this threat.

On shared security concerns, we appreciate China’s leadership on efforts to deal with North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and to bring the Pyongyang regime back to the negotiating table in the Six-Party framework.  The U.S. and China coordinate closely on the issue, cooperation rooted in our shared interest in global stability.

China understands its responsibility for playing a positive role in stability throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

We seek to engage China further on our shared concerns over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Burma’s generals, and extremists that threaten Afghanistan and Pakistan.  The potential for further instability in these areas and the risk of the proliferation of nuclear technology affect both our countries profoundly.

On global issues, we are working bilaterally and multilaterally to achieve an early and sustainable recovery from the global economic and financial crisis.

We have worked closely with the Chinese Ministry of Health and quarantine officials to limit the spread of pandemic influenza.  Assisting developing countries in overcoming economic marginalization, improving governance, and strengthening the rule of law also demands our immediate coordination.

In closing, I would like to note that the city of Shanghai holds special significance for China’s rise and the evolution of its foreign policy.  The city is not only a wellspring for China’s economic development, it in fact gave birth to our political relationship via the Shanghai Communiqué in February of 1972.

Our cooperation with China began in Shanghai with these communiqués, and since then China has come some distance.  It has acceded to the World Trade Organization and taken center stage on major world events like the Olympics. 

The next chapter, as a matter of fact, will be written in 2010 as the city hosts the World Expo, including a stunning American pavilion.  This is an event that some have described as the largest event in the history of the world.

In the evolution of China’s foreign policy, especially in its relations with the United States, NBR has played a significant role in shaping each of these developments.

Your conference features elite thinkers with a rich background in the broad array of foreign policy issues facing China.  I encourage you to use this opportunity to develop new and fresh approaches, new ideas for the next phase of China’s foreign policy.  But let us remember that between China and the United States that old aphorism from long ago still rings true: "hu xiang xue xi, hu xiang bang mang, hu xiang jin bu," (learn together, help each other, progress together).  Because together we will need to work like never before, and together we will need to progress for the sake of a more peaceful and prosperous world.

Thank you all so very much.

 

 

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