File photo shows Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai speaking at a dialogue on the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the U.S. in Grand Rapids, the United States, on Feb. 8, 2019. (Xinhua/Wang Ping)
"The real question for America is: Is the United States ready to live with another country with a different history, different culture, different system, but with no intention to compete for global dominance with the United States?" Cui asked.
"Are you ready to live with us in peace? This is the fundamental question. Hopefully, politicians, diplomats, journalists, scholars here could think about this really seriously."
WASHINGTON, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- The United States has to be aware that there is "a rising anger" among the Chinese public over Washington's hostile moves against China, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai has said.
Cui made the remark when he attended the 2020 Aspen Security Forum on Aug. 4 and had an online interview with Nicholas Burns, executive director of the Aspen Strategy Group, and Andrea Mitchell, chief foreign affairs correspondent of NBC News, on issues related to China-U.S. relations.
"The Chinese people are also very much shocked. They feel very disappointed about what is happening in this country towards China," said Cui. "There's a rising anger among the Chinese public."
"You are asking us what we can do to make the relations better. And people in China are asking what the United States can do to make the relations better. For many of the issues, sometimes I just don't understand why misconceptions could continue and even spread," he said.
"I want to be very honest and frank with all of you, the real question for America is: Is the United States ready to live with another country with a different history, different culture, different system, but with no intention to compete for global dominance with the United States?" Cui asked. "Are you ready to live with us in peace? This is the fundamental question. Hopefully, politicians, diplomats, journalists, scholars here could think about this really seriously."
"With all due respect, I very often hear people in this country say this is something universal. But when they say universal, it's mainly the United States and a couple of European countries," said the ambassador, responding to another question about "an almost universally held criticism of China (on Xinjiang)."
"If you talk about anything universal, you have to consider China itself has 20 percent of the global population. If you count in countries like India, African and Latin American countries, the majority of the global population is very often not included in the so-called universality (that is often referred to in this country)," he said. ■