Ambassador's Speeches and Articles
Remarks to Committee of 100
U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman
Remarks to Committee of 100
December 9, 2009
Beijing, China
Ambassador Huntsman: What a wonderful introduction. I thought with Commissioner Meik and her very kind comments, I thought boy, that guy sounds pretty cool! [Laughter]. Then I’m reminded every day that I go home that [Mandarin: I am just an old scone]. [Laughter]. Stated by my daughter from China and my daughter from India as well, both of whom put me in my proper place in life. So Commissioner, thank you very much for the kind introduction and most importantly, for your great service over the years, including your work in helping to organize the Committee of 100. It is truly an honor to be here with you today.
And with Ki Pu Lee and Jeffrey Lee and Jan Chen, so many others. Friends new and old. I’m just really honored to be here.
I’m accused, coming from Utah as Governor, of going from one red state to another. [Laughter]. I guess to some extent that’s probably true. But it’s an honor and privilege to serve here representing my country and representing President Barack Obama in what I hope is recognized as a bipartisan expression as it relates to the overall U.S.-China relationship.
I want to thank the Committee of 100. It seems that everywhere there is important work underway between the United States and China, you’re always there to be found. I look throughout this room and I recognize so many people who have been part of building this relationship. And even today, whether on the commercial and economic side or whether on the political side, you’re there helping, and you're there putting forward ideas, and you’re working your vast networks of contacts. I just want to thank you for it. Because as Ambassador over what is the second largest mission in the world, we have a lot of interests in China. It’s a large, complicated relationship.
In fact it’s so large and complicated with so many moving parts that I’ve come to the conclusion that you can make it whatever you want to make it. And a lot of people do. And chances are, any way you describe the relationship, you’re probably accurate at some level.
So it is therefore incumbent upon us to somehow bring it all toward the middle and to make sense out of what this relationship is and what it should be over time based on our countries’ long-term interests. So thank you, committee members, for the terrific contribution that you make.
I’m hoping that if I permanently change my name to [Mandarin: Hong Bopei], I’ll be able to become a member at some point? I don’t know. [Laughter]. But if I don’t make the cut then I’m really hoping that my daughter, Yang Leyi someday will be able to become a member, and I’m sure that she’ll make a great contribution in China.
[Mandarin]:
All of you understand the importance of this relationship and I think the President put it in proper perspective when he was here. In essence saying that with our two countries stepping up with respect to certain global challenges, nobody else is going to fix these problems.
Now we also celebrate, as I mentioned, the 30th Anniversary this year of the formal, diplomatic relationship. I guess you could say it goes all the way back to the Shanghai Communiqué of 1972. February of 1972 when Richard Nixon stepped out that Building 707 and shook the hand of Zhou Enlai, the handshake that changed the world. And they penned the Shanghai Communiqué, the first communiqué, of which there have been three now over the years defining the relationship. And by 1979 we formalized this diplomatic relationship, 30 years ago.
It’s been an interesting 30 years. Let me put it in perspective.
When Zbigniew Brzezinski who was sent by President Carter on a secret mission here formally established relations in 1979, there were only 1,500 foreigners here in Beijing, and not many in other places, by the way. Now in the U.S. Embassy alone we have more than that number to promote and protect America’s interests. Country-wide we have more Americans in China than in the state of Montana. Although -- [Laughter] -- my good friend Brian Schweitzer of that. [Laughter].
Thirty years ago there were no private cars on the road. Now, as we’re reminded daily, there are 60 million on the road with more than 10 million units manufactured per year. I just saw the numbers for the last month and it exceeded one million per month for the first time ever. China’s GDP has increased 82-fold in those 30 years which I think is a testament to the business ingenuity, the commercial dynamism, and the entrepreneurship of the Chinese people.
In 1979 U.S. trade was miniscule. I was reading President George Bush’s memoirs of when he served here in 1974 and 1975. I called the former Ambassador before I came out here getting little bits of advice. The first thing President Bush said was, “Have you read my book?” [Laughter]. I said no, but I will, and I’ll read it three times beyond that. Which I think I’ve done.
He laments in one chapter that in 1974 the trade between the United States and China had gone from $1 billion that year to $500 million. I can name about six guys sitting around this table right here who have far more than that invested in single plant operations. One billion dollars at the time. That wasn’t so long ago. Today we’re staring down a relationship, economically speaking, that is $400 billion strong. Now our second largest and soon to be our first.
Thirty years ago there was no talk of rule of law, civil society, human rights. Today with 60 million bloggers, 325 million internet users, these discussions are no longer reserved just for the elite few in certain corners of society.
And I consider it an honor the U.S. Embassy issued just 4,700 non-immigrant visas of which 770 were students. Last year our embassy and consulates in China issued nearly a half million non-immigrant visas to Chinese citizens with almost 100,000 students now studying in the United States. That’s right. A hundred times more than 1979.
There were but a handful of U.S. news correspondents in the late 1970s. Every one of them wrote a book after serving here. Such was the appetite for information about China. Today there are more than 150 correspondents, many of them my friends. Every one of them writes at least a blog and nearly all seem to have a book contract or two. But it seems that none live up to the Harrison Salsbury standard, who was indeed my favorite journalist of all times who covered the China beat back in his day.
So just as China’s economic growth has implications for the world economy, its foreign policy also has profound implications for the international system, and here too the contrast between 1979 and today is illuminating.
In 1979 China was categorically opposed to UN peacekeeping operations. Today China is one of the largest contributors of troops to peacekeeping operations, having sent over 10,000 peacekeeping representatives since 1989.
In 1979, not so long ago, China supported the Khmer Rouge in a bloody, violent conflict that engulfed Cambodia and Vietnam. Today the region is peaceful as both the U.S. and China build healthy economic and trade relations with the countries of ASEAN.
In 1979 China did not have diplomatic relations with Seoul and was engaged in collaborative development with North Korea on tactical ballistic missiles. Today China not only has strong political and economic ties to Seoul, but it is working to prevent North Korea’s proliferative efforts and is a key figure in the 6-Party talks.
Now as the President stepped off not his 707, as Richard Nixon did, but a 747, he found that our bilateral relationship has matured enormously in 30 short years. And that it’s become quite obvious that absent our close cooperation in ways in which our two presidents have said should be positive and comprehensive, many of the most pressing global challenges cannot be successfully addressed let alone successfully managed. We share many of the same views about problems in the world and recognize that this does not always mean we will agree. Of course we have disagreements, but it should mean that we will always be respectful, that we’ll treat each other as equal partners, and more than ever before we will seek to understand in all cases what our shared interests consist of.
So the President while he was here, as he had done in Tokyo in a speech there, told the people of China that the U.S. and Asia are not separated by the Pacific Ocean, they’re bound by it. We’re working together to build a new partnership to ensure our shared prosperity, indeed our common challenges -- all in recognition that no one nation can meet the challenges of the 21st Century.
He reassured the people of China that we welcome China playing a greater role on the national stage, and I think his message was very well received. But in case you’re wondering, I would draw your attention to the Joint Statement that was produced by both sides. A highly substantive and detailed nine page document that is broken down by sections -- deepening strategic trust; economic cooperation; global recovery; regional and global challenges; environment, climate change, and energy. Take a look. It offers a road map forward on how the United States and China are going to handle the issues of the day.
A few more specifics. We’ll be holding another round of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue the summer of 2010 in Beijing, which gives us yet another opportunity to measure how far we have come from the first dialogue and to provide instructions to our working groups on where we go next.
I would put it this way. After we have reached a pretty high cruising altitude in the bilateral relationship, and I would argue that over 30 years of hard work, we’re probably at the highest cruising altitude the U.S.-China relationship has ever achieved. It’s now time to put the relationship to the test and this we will be doing as we move into the next year.
We’ll start with more in the way of military to military exchanges. You’ll see more in the way of Chinese military leaders visiting the United States and some of our military leaders, including Secretary of Defense Bob Gates, visiting here in the effort to build greater understanding and new channels of communication and greater trust.
Two. Perhaps the most important investment we could be making in each other is to facilitate people to people cultural exchange. That of 100,000 American students in China over the next four years, I think, is powerful. And yes, it’s going to take a lot of work, but I think it’s absolutely doable.
On climate change, number three, we may have our differences in how hard and how fast certain commitments are going to play out short term, but both sides recognize the importance of dramatically reducing carbon emissions by mid-century and finding new energy conservation measures. We know it’s time for a great economic revolution and that will be a focus of our interaction in the years to dome.
In addition to climate change, the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center has now been established. We launched several new initiatives including those around electric vehicles, clean building energy efficiency, renewable energy partnership on shale gas resources, and we will work to promote coal technologies and cooperate on large-scale carbon capture and sequestration projects.
On proliferation, we will pursue ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, support the launch of negotiations of a fusil missile cutoff treaty, and China has agreed to actively participate in preparation for the April 2010 Nuclear Safety Summit.
On the global economic crisis. The two presidents’ message was that we are emerging from this crisis and our joint cooperation was absolutely essential in weathering the storm. Much of what we did was not public or visible in the early days, but we did end up with good stimulus packages, and reassured markets, and stabilized bond and credit systems. But we need to keep in mind that the new global economic reality that emerges will look very different form the one that precede it, which means recognizing as well the limits of depending primarily on American consumers and Asian exports to drive growth.
The new strategy of balanced economic growth in America means save more, spending less, reforming our financial system, reducing our long-term deficit, exporting more, and in the process creating more and better paying jobs. Our markets will remain open, but it is also just as critical that other markets around the world remain open to us.
In China the new strategy of economic growth will mean higher standards of living for workers and consumers through greater choice; improved infrastructure; a modern management structure; better housing; quality health care; and a more fully developed safety net.
There is every reason to think that on the Chinese side China will succeed. And its extraordinary record of accomplishment over the last 30 years will likely be sustained. And there is every reason to think America will once again regain its preeminent role as an economic powerhouse. We are a nation that responds well to adversity, and we’re going to look back to the events of the last few years as the time we took charge of our future.
So I’m confident today, in fact more confident today than I was when I took this job about seven short months ago, that we are moving toward a relationship, to be sure, not one where we’re always going to agree but one that will be positive and cooperative and comprehensive, that will show a sense of equality and mutual respect, and a deeper understanding of our shared interests we perceive.
I guess the best way to put it is that old Hang Dynasty aphorism. The Hang Dynasty, as you’ll remember, ran from 200 BC to 200 AD -- a most progressive period in China’s history. And a statement from that period, my favorite of all time, goes something like this. [Mandarin: understand each other, help each other, progress together]. If we remember this, we are sure to succeed.
The Committee also has a slogan – [Mandarin] -- which I think captures the essence as well: seeking common ground while respecting differences. We’re on a good path, we’re on a positive trajectory. Thank you Committee of 100 for making it so. Thank you so very much.
[Applause].