Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng on Thursday shared his vision about China-U.S. relations, saying anything is possible regarding the development of bilateral ties if the two countries choose to cooperate.

Le made the remarks during an online meeting at Vision China. He was talking about his expectations regarding the future of China-U.S. relations.

Speaking of the bilateral relations in the past four years, Le attributed the setbacks to the misguided China policy under Donald Trump's administration, stressing that "China and the United States, as two major countries in the world, should treat each other as partners rather than adversaries, help rather than fight each other."

The vice foreign minister felt pity for the attitude that Trump administration chose in tackling COVID-19, reiterating that the real enemy of the United States is COVID-19, rather than China.

Noting that the new U.S. administration was just sworn in a week ago, Le said he hoped that the new government would draw an important lesson from the previous failure and bring a new start to China-U.S. relations.

He hoped that the U.S. side, under Joe Biden's administration, would develop bilateral ties in the spirit of no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation so as to focus on cooperation, manage differences, move the relationship forward in a sound and steady manner and, together with other countries and the international community, advance the noble cause of world peace and development.

Vision to future bilateral ties

Le then shared his vision on the development of bilateral ties with four "R" words, namely "respect, reversal, renewal and responsibility."

To begin with, Le viewed mutual respect as the foundation for successful people-to-people and state-to-state interactions. 

"The only thing that China asks of the United States is to respect the development path we have chosen, respect our legitimate interests, and respect our pursuit for a better life, and to quit its obsession with changing or splitting China. The world would be better off if our two countries would respect and help each other succeed," the vice foreign minister said.

The second R is "reversal," said Le, noting a lot of repair has to be done given that too many "traps" and "pitfalls" were set in the past four years. He suggested immediate actions from the both sides to create conditions for improving the relationship and bringing it back on track.

Speaking of "renewal," Le said the shared interests and needs for cooperation between the two countries far outweigh the differences. He called for cooperation in areas such as fighting COVID-19, economic recovery and climate change.

Last but not least, Le hoped China and the U.S., as two major countries in the world, shoulder more responsibilities for world peace and development.

"History has taught us that working together, we could get great things done to the benefit of the two countries and the world. In other words, anything is possible when China and the United States choose to cooperate," said Le, stressing that the future of China-U.S. relations, and the future of the world, depend on what vision the two countries embrace and what choice they make.