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Just before Chinese President Hu Jintao's first official visit to the United States since taking office, US Ambassador to China Clark T. Randt sat down in his office with Wang Gangyi, publisher of Beijing Review, for an exclusive interview to discuss the nature and overall trend of China-US relations, Hu's visit and various bilateral issues, especially trade and economic cooperation.

 

Beijing Review: How do you define the nature and general trend of China-US relations?

 

Clark T. Randt: Very positive. The relationship has continued to improve. For that, I credit the vision of the leadership of our two countries. They have made it happen. The evidence of that is that never before in the history of US-China relations have the two countries seen the exchange of so many high-level visits and face-to-face meetings between presidents.

 

President George W. Bush has come to China three times since he came to power. He has telephone conversations and exchanges of letters with President Hu. I think that is very important in increasing mutual understanding and reducing potential misunderstanding and miscalculation.

 

When I came originally in 2001, President Bush instructed me that we [the US] wanted a candid, cooperative and constructive relationship [with China]. Very honestly, the instructions to me today are still exactly the same. The president said that a healthy, prosperous and stable China enjoying a peaceful relationship with its neighbors is not only in the interest of the region but also in the interest of the US and the whole world.

 

 

Beijing Review: How would you describe China’s current role in international politics and world trade?

 

Randt: We have been encouraging China for many years to play an active role in various international systems. We want China to play a leading role and that is what is happening. We think that China is a major player in many areas, including the world trading system.

 

You know, Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick has urged China to become a responsible stakeholder in the world system. We have the same interest in maintaining the system and keeping it working. It is in accordance with our common interests. China and the US share a number of very big, important common interests. Certainly one of them is globalization. China and the US are both winners as a result of globalization. That is win-win for both of us. We have common interests in keeping the system, the global financial system and other international systems intact.

 

Beijing Review: How do you interpret the term 'responsible stakeholder' in the international system?

 

Randt: I think the term means more than just China being a participant and obtaining benefits from the system. Of course, China and the US both do that. But you also have responsibilities and obligations really to maintain the system and work for the rules of the system. Your country is large and powerful. I will appreciate it if China plays a positive and constructive role in keeping the system intact.

 

Beijing Review: Where does the stake lie?

 

Randt: A country has its stake just like a company does. China receives dividends, or benefits. When it joined the World Trade Organization (WTO), your foreign trade exploded, and your exports exploded. That is beneficial for all the people in China. That is the trend.

 

Beijing Review: There is no denying that some problems remain in current China-US economic relations, especially bilateral trade. What are the major ones in your opinion? What measures do you think the two countries should take to solve these problems?

 

Randt: There are some problems in the trade area. Particularly you can see in the US that the public and representatives in Congress are questioning the benefits of the free trade system. Our president believes in free trade, but the rest are losing a consensus about the benefits of free trade. They argued that we have not received the benefits of the system.

 

I know you have different statistics. According to our statistics, we had a bilateral trade deficit of US$162 billion in 2004. Never in the history of the world has there been such a big deficit. And after a year, it exploded to US$201.6 billion. This is unsustainable, particularly when the perception is that China obtained this kind of trade surplus by unfair means.

 

The focus is that people think that the value of the renminbi yuan does not reflect its true market value. Market access to China is still an issue, in some industries and in some areas.

 

Finally, a big problem lies in intellectual property rights (IPR). In the US, a big percentage of our gross domestic product (GDP) comes from services and IPR. That's where we have a competitive advantage. In innovation, ideas and products we have the essential IPR. In China, the law is good but the enforcement is not consistent or effective. It appears that IPR piracy is a serious problem. We can see that Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi is taking charge of a leading group [for IPR protection in China] and efforts have been made. So, we are hopeful that those efforts can continue and we are hopeful to see an impact in the marketplace.

 

Beijing Review: You have followed the development of Chinese enterprises for more than 20 years. Quite a number of Chinese enterprises are extending their operations to foreign countries, including the US. How do you perceive such a trend?

 

Randt: It's positive. The US is practicing on the global capital market. The deepest and richest capital market can give our investors more choices and more options. That's an opportunity for American investors. Also we welcome international investors. Many people are investing in the US. It brings opportunities.

 

I know a lot of American people are complaining about losing jobs since Chinese companies set up operations in the US. Some people in the government and Congress maintain a negative attitude toward extending operations in the US.

 

I want to assure you that the Bush administration welcomes foreign investment in the US. There have been some recent highly publicized cases, but those are really exceptions.

 

Beijing Review: President Hu is paying an official visit to your country this week and holding talks with President Bush. What are the major issues you think the two presidents are going to discuss?

 

Randt: This is President Hu's first visit to our country as president. So, it is a very important visit and we will have a lot of strategic programs. The visit will have a deep impact on the relationship of the two countries. There is an excellent potential to move our relations to a higher level. A lot of people say the relationship between the US and China is pretty good. But it can always be better. We will never be satisfied. I think this visit can move us to an even higher level of cooperation.

 

There are certain global issues the two presidents will discuss. China played a constructive role on the Korean Peninsular and Iranian nuclear issues and on all sorts of other issues ranging from avian influenza to the environment and energy policy. We have a lot of issues on which we share common interests. Of course, we have differences like the trade issues. We will discuss those. Our president and the American people think human rights are very important to us. That does not say we are perfect, but we are very proud of our culture. We can all improve.

 

Beijing Review: Besides agreements for China to purchase US products, are you expecting any agreements in other areas? Will the two countries sign a joint document on overall bilateral relations?

 

Randt: I cannot predict what agreements might come out. We did have [Homeland Security] Secretary Michael Chertoff pay a very constructive visit, meeting State Councilor Zhou Yongkang and Luo Gan, a member of the Standing Committee [of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee]. I think there are a number of very positive agreements to be signed [during President Hu's trip].

 

Beijing Review: You are the longest serving US ambassador to China so far. When you first arrived in Beijing as the ambassador in July 2001, you quoted an old Chinese saying to reflect your aspirations for the future of US-China relations: "bo yun jian ri" (to remove the clouds and to see the sun). Almost five years have passed since then. What old Chinese saying would you like to quote to reflect your current aspirations for the future of China-US relations?

 

Randt: "Yu qiong qian li mu, geng shang yi ceng lou." (Ascend another story to see a thousand li (a Chinese unit of length that equals half kilometer) ahead, or to have a better view.)

 

Beijing Review: That's Deng Guan Que Lou (To Climb Guanque Tower) written by Wang Zhihuan, a well-known Chinese poet (688-742) of the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

 

Randt: Yes. I think things are going in the right direction. The relationship is improving. Again thanks to the efforts of our leaders. It [the bilateral relationship] has the potential to keep growing.

 

(Beijing Review April 17, 2006)