Observer: China, US should jointly defend outcomes of the victory of WWII
By Zhong Sheng
People's Daily app
1764574271000

On the evening of November 24, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with US President Donald Trump on the phone. This was the first interaction between the two heads of state since their meeting in Busan, South Korea.

The call provided strategic guidance for both sides to further implement the common understandings reached in Busan and maintain the overall momentum of stability and improvement in China-US relations. It also sent a positive message to the world about safeguarding the post-war international order and promoting global peace and stability.

Head-of-state diplomacy has always served as an anchor guiding the development of China-US relations. The Busan meeting was not only a historic moment in bilateral ties, but also a landmark event in international relations.

Since the meeting, both sides have actively implemented the common understandings reached by the two leaders, helping bilateral relations maintain a generally steady and positive trajectory.

Observers in both countries and the international community have taken note that the US side has removed the 10-percent so-called "fentanyl tariffs" imposed on Chinese goods, suspended the 24-percent reciprocal tariffs levied on Chinese goods, paused the implementation of the "Affiliates Rule" and suspended the Section 301 investigation into China's shipbuilding and related sectors. China has also suspended relevant countermeasures accordingly.

These developments reaffirm a fact repeatedly proven in practice: China and the US achieve mutual gains through cooperation and incur losses through confrontation. A future of shared success and prosperity is both visible and attainable.

What has happened demonstrates yet again that the description of China-US cooperation benefiting both sides and confrontation hurting both sides reflects a common outcome that has been repeatedly proven by experience, and the vision of China and the US helping each other succeed and prospering together is a tangible prospect within reach.

The current stabilizing and improving momentum in China-US relations has not come easily. It is the result of the two leaders' steering at the strategic level and requires joint efforts from both sides to sustain. For two countries to be partners and friends is both a profound lesson bestowed by history and an inevitable requirement for practical development.

The two sides should keep up the momentum, keep moving forward in the right direction on the basis of equality, respect and mutual benefit, lengthen the list of cooperation and shorten the list of problems so as to make more positive progress, create new space for China-US cooperation and bring more benefits to the people of both countries and the world.

The Taiwan question is at the core of China's core interests. It is a red line that must not be crossed. Xi clarified China's principled position during the call, stressing that Taiwan's return to China is an important part of the post-war international order. China and the US once fought side by side against fascism and militarism. At present, they should jointly safeguard the victories of WWII.

Trump noted that China was a big part of the victory of WWII. The US understands how important the Taiwan question is to China.

Communication between the two heads of state carries significant practical importance. Recently, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has made severe provocations on the Taiwan question, describing a hypothetical scenario concerning Taiwan as a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, implying the possibility of armed intervention in the Taiwan Strait.

This not only seriously violates the one-China principle but also represents a blatant challenge to the post-war international order. Her remarks have already triggered international concern and alarm about Japan's dangerous strategic trajectory.

As countries that made major sacrifices for the victory in the World Anti-Fascist War and as permanent members of the UN Security Council, China and the US share a responsibility to safeguard the post-war international order and firmly oppose any attempt to revive militarism or undermine regional and global peace and stability.

In the face of mounting challenges, China and the US should demonstrate their responsibility as major countries. By adhering to mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, they can fully achieve mutual success and shared prosperity, and accomplish more great and concrete things for the good of the two countries and the whole world, thus better benefitting themselves and the world at large.