Mr. President Trump,

As you embark on a visit to Asia which includes Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines and China, I’d like to share some of my thoughts with you. I have been watching how relations between China and the United States are evolving over the past year and I feel obliged to say something to you.

Mr. President, I have to say that there are still people who believe in the so-called Thucydides Trap theory and people who have doubts about the strategic intentions of a rising China. There are also people who are divided on whether the US should work with China or confront China.

Let’s go back to history and let history speak for itself. Ever since President Nixon made the ice-breaking visit to China in 1972, China and the US have never gone into major conflicts or wars. Instead, the two countries have become ever more interconnected and interdependent economically and politically. The close relationship between China and the US has helped the two countries grow and develop. In fact, they have formed a community of common interests with more factors to unite them than divide them. 

Instead of letting the notion stand in the way of developing bilateral relations, the two major powers should work together to break the myth of the Thucydides Trap, which refers to when a rising power causes fear in an established power, escalating towards war .

Mr. President, history proved that China is a solution, not a hindrance to world peace and development. China and the US have gone into wars and ideological confrontations in the past. But the two countries also have done great things. For example, we have fought side by side during the Second World War and emerged victorious.

I believe our two great countries and great peoples can do more great things if we work together. We can win other wars, such as the war on nuclear threats, on terrorism, on poverty and on climate change if we join hands. The world needs us to win those wars. Being the largest developed and developing countries as well as the largest and second largest economies, our two countries have the obligation to safeguard world peace and promote economic development for mankind. China’s rapid development in the past few decades has brought opportunities not only for its own people but also for people in other countries, and China has offered solutions to the world.

Mr. President, your slogan is to “make America great again”. And President Xi Jinping is striving to achieve the “rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”. Both of you are doing pretty much the same thing. I dare say that if the two countries can work together, each will realize its goals more speedily. 

China and the US can work together or can even compete with each other in a fair and healthy way in the fields of economic development, trade, technology and innovation. Either way, the two countries can grow together because I believe healthy competition is a good thing.

I really hope that the US can do well and China can do well too. My logic is simple; if the US does well, China will do well. If China does well, the US will do well. And if China and the US both do well, the world will be a better place.

Mr. President, your first official visit to China since taking office will be the first visit to China by a foreign head of state since the new Chinese leadership was elected after the 19th CPC National Congress. This is a precious opportunity for both countries to move forward in bilateral relations. The two leaders should seize this opportunity to talk candidly and in a straightforward manner to each other. It is important to have such direct dialogue.

I have to say that it is equally important for the two leaders to listen to each other and to better understand the major concerns of the other side. In your meeting with President Xi at Mar-a-Lago, Florida in April, you said that you and President Xi had chemistry. Both leaders can build on this personal chemistry and on the momentum from the Mar-a-Lago meeting to push forward bilateral relations. 

Mr. President, at the just-concluded 19th Party Congress, President Xi, who is also the general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, declared that China has entered a new era. Domestically, the new era means China has ushered in a new phase of development in the economy, society, politics and culture. Internationally, the new era means China will adopt a more and more proactive foreign policy including playing a more active role in global governance, in promoting global economic development and in building a community of common destiny for mankind.

The new era also means new thinking, new innovative ideas, new approaches and new actions. I think leaders of both China and the US should also use new thinking and new approaches to deal with relations between the two countries and steer bilateral ties to a new level. Both countries should start a new era for co-prosperity for both peoples as well as a new era for the whole world.

Mr. President, I sincerely hope that your visit to China will be a meaningful and fruitful one.