Fmr. Ambassador Discusses Tense U.S.-China Relations

TERRY BRANSTAD, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO CHINA: Well, one of the things that the Congress already did was sanction some of the people involved in mistreatment of the Uyghurs and in Hong Kong. But what China normally does is, they retaliate. And so I think 10 minutes after Biden was sworn in, they basically retaliated with sanctions against 28 people that had been in the previous administration. And when we closed their consulate in Houston, they retaliated by requiring us to close our consulate in Chengdu. Basically, we’re trying to get to a situation where China recognizes they need to play by the same rules as everybody else. And we want to see fairness and reciprocity in the relationship, something they never had before. But we started that during the time that I was ambassador. I’m pleased to see that President Biden is at least talking a good game, but it’s a challenge. And it’s important that we work with China when we can, but we also need to stand up to the inappropriate actions they have taken, like in the South China Sea, or the mistreatment of the Uyghurs and the people in Hong Kong, and the squeeze they’re putting on Taiwan.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: Again, China, because it has no pretensions anymore, it’s not, like, standing back. It wants to be the superpower. It wants to have the influence in that region, and perhaps potentially take over the U.S. role as number one in the world. So, I just wonder whether there is — whether it’s a fool’s errand to actually think you can change their behavior. And, particularly, I want to know what you think. Were relations after the Trump administration better than when you left or before? Because it’s really in a chill, and people have called it like — sort of almost like a Cold War atmosphere?

BRANSTAD: Well, first of all, I think we need to recognize that China wants to be rich, powerful, and respected. And the point that I tried to make is, they can’t be respected if they don’t live by the same rules as everybody else. And they haven’t been doing that with their abuses of human rights, with the inappropriate actions they have taken in the South China Sea, which is international water. So, we have had American ships, freedom of navigation, transportation going through that area consistently. And that needs to continue to demonstrate that those are international waters, and there are a dozen or more smaller countries in Southeast Asia who also have rights to that area, as does the rest of the world.