Sanya (People's Daily) - A former US diplomat called decoupling from China “nonsense” at a forum in South China on Saturday.

“To me, this idea of decoupling is complete nonsense,” said Christopher Hill, former US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

He made the comments at the 2019 Sanya Forum, organized by Caijing Magazine, which opened Saturday in Sanya, South China’s Hainan Province.

Christopher Hill, former US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, gives a speech at the forum on Saturday. (Photo: People's Daily app/Zhang Jian)

“Most American people regard the idea of decoupling from China to be nonsense,” Hill said.

He noted that the China-US relationship is the most important in the world, not only to China or the US, but to the whole world.

“There are those who say we are separated by the vast Pacific Ocean. Actually, we are joined by the vast Pacific Ocean. We have a great deal in common,” he said.

He thinks the two sides need to understand that they have no choice but to work together. However, he also believes that the China-US relationship is one with a lot of problems and he thinks those problems cause a mountain of mistrust.

“We need to begin to do better in terms of overcoming that mountain of mistrust.”

He thinks the US and China need to resolve issues, such as intellectual property rights and the rights of investors.

Hill thinks we need to replace that mistrust with some patterns of cooperation. Mentioning the movie industry, he said whether it is in Hollywood or in China, there is an understanding that both peoples want to see endings in which the US and China cooperate to resolve an issue.

He gave an example of the movie The Martian, in which the main character Mark Watney was saved by a Chinese team.

“This was a pattern of evaporation,” he added, “but we don't have to go to Mars to find a way to cooperate.”