China’s U.S. Ambassador Talks Pew Poll, Trade, Air Travel: Exclusive Interview

The Pew Analysis Heart unveiled a ballot final Thursday saying 82% of People have an unfavorable view of China, a report excessive and improve of six proportion factors from a yr in the past. One notable Chinese language determine in America takes challenge with it: China’s ambassador to america, Qin Gang.

The survey “failed to offer individuals an entire image of China-U.S. relations, notably people-to-people relations,” Qin stated in an interview with Forbes final Friday on the China Embassy in Washington. “It’s not goal.”

“I’ve met individuals of various communities” within the U.S., stated Qin, who grew to become ambassador final yr. “No person instructed me that they do not like China. Most of them instructed me that they had been fascinated with China. They wished China-U.S. relations nicely. They wished to do enterprise with China. They wished to study Chinese language. They wished to go to China.”

It’s simple to see why Qin feels that means. The nation’s chief diplomat within the U.S. had simply returned from a week-long go to by way of three Midwestern states in April that targeted on commerce ties and brilliant spots within the relationship for the reason that Washington and Beijing solid diplomatic ties in 1979. One Chinese language customer to Iowa again in 1985 was Xi Jinping; Qin final month adopted the trail taken by Xi in a return go to to the agricultural state as China’s vice chairman in 2012, even driving the identical tractor that Xi did on the Kimberly household farm in Maxwell, Iowa. Xi went on to develop into China’s president that yr.

Most of the People that Qin met on his journey had heat phrases for each Qin and U.S. business relations with the nation that has gone on since 1980 to develop into the world’s second-largest financial system and the largest export marketplace for American agricultural merchandise. At a “U.S.-China Excessive Stage Agricultural Dialogue” in Des Moines co-organized by the U.S. Heartland China Affiliation on April 21, as an example, Craig Floss, the CEO of the Iowa Corn Growers Affiliation, shared with Qin remarks that he stated had been the identical as he expressed to Xi in 2012. “We might admire the chance to work with you. We hope it is possible for you to to share this message with others in China about how a lot we admire our particular friendship,” Floss stated. “We thanks to your previous enterprise, and we stay up for our relationship evolving to even better heights by way of elevated commerce and change of concepts.” In addition to Floss, the CEOs of Continental Grain, the U.S. Grains Council and the U.S.

Soybean Export Council, in addition to former U.S. political leaders, spoke warmly of ties. There was little or no point out of contentious matters akin to spying, piracy, Taiwan, labor practices within the mainland, or China’s shut relations with Russia.

The Iowa welcome, even amid present geopolitical and financial strains between the 2 nations, wasn’t shocking, says Susan A. Thornton, senior fellow and visiting Lecturer on the Paul Tsai China Heart of Yale Regulation Faculty. “When I’ve engaged with audiences throughout the U.S. in latest months on the subject of U.S.-China relations, what strikes me is that audiences outdoors Washington D.C. focus extra on financial, social and cultural points with China than on safety points. With Washington, D.C. space audiences, it tends to be the alternative,” Thornton stated by electronic mail.

Craig Allen, president of the U.S.-China Enterprise Council, a enterprise group that represents greater than 260 firms that do enterprise with China together with Boeing, GM and Microsoft, stated detrimental views now current in every nation towards the opposite signify a supply of threat, and rigidity must be defused. “It’s onerous to disclaim that detrimental perceptions within the U.S. about China are at a really excessive stage. Sadly, detrimental perceptions about America in China are about equally excessive. The abrupt decline in public polls on either side of the Pacific are partially a results of Covid, journey restrictions and the oblique however giant impression of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” Washington, D.C.-based Allen stated. “Given the excessive diploma of rigidity, there may be threat that the 2 governments won’t be able successfully handle a world disaster,” he continued. “For all of those causes, it’s important that the 2 sides begin an everyday sequence of consultations on the working stage to diffuse tensions, handle battle and think about confidence constructing measures. We should not neglect that we’ve many mutual pursuits.”

Within the interview, Qin famous an enormous shared curiosity with the U.S. in stabilizing a world financial system beneath stress this yr. “Trying round, we’ve Covid rampant on this planet, and we’ve the Ukraine disaster in Europe. They’ve induced nice difficulties to the world financial system, and extra nations are affected by vitality and meals shortages. World provide chains are being disrupted badly. China and america, as two massive nations, as the 2 largest economies, must coordinate and collaborate and to take a number one position to make the world financial system recuperate as quickly as attainable.”

General, he was upbeat. “We’re pure companions, as a result of our economies are extremely complementary,” he stated. “We’re very optimistic concerning the potential and alternatives between our two nations,” Qin stated.

Qin backed up his view with information: two-way U.S.-China commerce reached a report $750 billion in 2021, a 28.7% improve over the earlier yr; U.S. direct funding in China now approaches $100 billion, he stated, whereas China’s non-financial direct funding in america has surpassed $70 billion. Some 97% of 70,000 American firms that spend money on China are worthwhile. In the meantime, China’s imports from the U.S. rose by 33% final yr — although that left the U.S. with a commerce deficit of greater than $396.6 billion, accounting for greater than half of China’s giant $676.4 billion commerce surplus in 2021. U.S. farm exports of $33 billion – a rise of 25% from 2020 — to China final yr helped. The U.S. deficit with China was $101 billion within the first three months of this yr alone.

Qin, 55, is well-positioned to assist put phrases to deeds. The native of Tianjin, China began his diplomatic profession in 1988, rising up the ranks with excursions in Nice Britain and Northern Eire. He returned house in 2011, went on to function International Ministry spokesman and vice minister earlier than getting a plum job within the U.S. final yr. The significance of the U.S. ambassador place to China could be seen in a photograph gallery of his predecessors close to within the Embassy entrance, most of whom have gone to larger positions at house.

U.S. commerce is a hit between the 2 but in addition a sore spot. U.S. Commerce Consultant Katherine Tai stated in Congressional testimony in March, as an example: “The USA has repeatedly sought and obtained commitments from China, solely to seek out that follow-through or actual change stays elusive.” Requested to touch upon her remarks, Qin stated that progress has been made and the 2 sides ought to hold speaking. Qin

notably bemoaned tariffs imposed by the Trump administration as damaging to either side, and was additionally vital of U.S. blacklists of greater than 1,000 Chinese language firms, starting from state-owned to personal sector companies, on the grounds of nationwide safety and labor practices. “Enterprise and commerce are being politicized,” an issue that — together with Covid — has led to a plunge in U.S. investments by Chinese language companies through the years, Qin stated. “Chinese language firms increasingly are being restricted and even suppressed by the overstretching of the idea of nationwide safety and by the false claiming of compelled labor in Xinjiang,” he stated.

Although giant multinational giants akin to Starbucks and McDonald’s have been

profitable in China for many years, smaller companies might have hassle doing the identical. Qin provided recommendation to the latter that will not simple for them to observe: “keep optimistic, keep assured in China’s big market” and take note of its “insurance policies, plannings, and growth methods. They’re all open and clear. They’re on Chinese language newspapers. They’re on Chinese language web sites. So do some good homework and discover out the place the important thing precedence areas are and the place the great alternatives lie.” Pandemic-related restrictions on air journey which have disrupted enterprise between the 2 sides are “short-term,” he stated. (Click on here for a hyperlink to a video of the interview.)

Qin lauded individuals to individuals ties between the 2 sides. “Folks’s friendship is the important thing to state-to-state relations,” Qin stated. “Folks-to-people friendship lays the muse of China-U.S. relations. And I feel the fervour and curiosity between our two peoples for a great relationship (and) a extra cooperative relationship are nonetheless right here,” he stated, noting the 2 nations have 234 pairs of sister cities. On Tuesday, he wrote a letter to a supportive crowd at a gathering of the China Institute, an New York-based group that advances training about China. On Friday, he’ll attend a gathering in Washington of the New York-based Committee of 100, which works to advertise ties between the U.S. and Higher China.

Requested to touch upon Qin’s remarks on its survey, Pew Analysis Heart stated by electronic mail that it’s “a non-partisan, non-advocacy group that conducts surveys and analyzes public attitudes about points around the globe. Actually once we ask opinion of China and obtain a single quantity – 82% unfavorable – it can not embody the whole thing of China-U.S. relations. However, we requested a number of questions concerning the bilateral relationship on this survey and in addition discover that People more and more see China’s energy and affect as a serious menace. We even have greater than 15 years of developments documenting how opinions towards China have shifted over time and views right now are among the many extra detrimental we’ve ever recorded.” Pew added that People have a tendency to explain “Chinese language individuals” positively however “when utilizing their very own phrases to explain ‘China,’ most People don’t deal with the individuals and reasonably assume extra concerning the Chinese language authorities or the habits of China internationally.”

Any means you take a look at it, Qin has his work minimize out for him.

@rflannerychina