Stoking up ideological confrontation between China, U.S. a fundamental misjudgment: Chinese ambassador

It is a fundamental misjudgment for some Americans to describe China-U.S. ties as "democracy versus authoritarianism," and stoke up ideological confrontation between the world's top two economies, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang said Wednesday.

Qin made the remarks in his speech at a virtual conversation jointly held by The Carter Center and the George H. W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations.

"Thanks to generations of Chinese and American leaders and people, China-U.S. relations have made remarkable progress. However, today, some Americans' misunderstanding and misjudgment about China is building up," he said.

"A fundamental one is to define America's relations with China as democracy versus authoritarianism, and to stoke up ideological confrontation, which has led to serious difficulties in China-U.S. relations," he said.

Although the two countries are different in history, culture and political system, both peoples desire peace and prosperity, and leaders in Washington and Beijing share one common goal, just as former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said, "to create peaceful and stable conditions for their people to pursue happiness," Qin said, adding this is "the biggest commonality" between the two countries.

"We never say that our system is the best, because we know only the suited is the best. Whether it is good or not should not be judged by what we say, but what we do," he said.

"Our two countries should not and cannot change each other. Instead, we should break ideological barriers, discard zero-sum mentality, respect other countries, and accommodate each other without losing our own distinctions, so as to get along with each other in peace," he said.

Stressing that the two countries need to show broad vision and shoulder great responsibilities, the ambassador said both countries "should look ahead and press forward, and bring China-U.S. relations back to the right track of stable development as soon as possible, for the good of the people in both countries and around the world."

"Let's demonstrate strategic courage and political resolve to chart a new course in China-U.S. relations," he added.