Amid stormy US-China ties, friendship between people remains a beacon of hope

From the comradeship of the World War II ‘Flying Tiger’ volunteer pilots to the ‘ping-pong diplomacy’ of the 1970s, people-to-people friendship is the true foundation of the US-China relationship

Wei Wei

Published: 5:30am, 21 Nov 2023

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In an op-ed in June, I expressed my doubts over how sincere the US is about improving relations with China. Five months on, those doubts still linger, but there is a silver lining.

There have been signs of better bilateral ties. The US, for the first time, set up an official pavilion at the recent sixth China International Import Expo, and sent senior officials and a delegation from the agriculture and food industries. And since June this year, high-level visits had been paving the way for the much anticipated meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden on the sidelines of the Apec summit in San Francisco.

Their meeting lasted four hours with simultaneous interpretation. According to China’s statement, they had “candid and in-depth” exchanges over the strategic issues “critical to the direction of China-US relations” and “world peace and development”.

The Taiwan question, Xi stressed, “remains the most important and most sensitive issue”, according to the statement. “The US side should take real actions to honour its commitment of not supporting ‘Taiwan independence’, stop arming Taiwan and support China’s peaceful reunification. China will realize reunification, and this is unstoppable.”

And on his part, according to the Chinese statement, Biden reaffirmed that the US adheres to the one-China policy, does not support Taiwan independence, and has no intention of having a conflict with China.

So all seems well. Yet again, optimism may be a bit naive; after all, we should watch what they do, not what they say.

03:12

Xi Jinping, Joe Biden hold talks on sidelines of Apec summit to ease strained US-China ties

In early November, the BBC reported that the US was “quietly arming Taiwan to the teeth”. Earlier this year, Biden granted Taiwan US$80 million to buy US military equipment. This is not a big sum but, unlike previous arms sales, the deal essentially gives military aid to Taiwan using US taxpayer money.

And it comes under a provision known as Foreign Military Financing, which has sent billions of dollars to Ukraine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Egypt and other countries. These recipients have one thing in common: they are nations recognised by the United Nations. But Taiwan is not.

As the BBC put it: “For the first time in more than 40 years, America is using its own money to send weapons to a place it officially doesn’t recognise.” Yet the US claims to stick to a one-China policy, that it does not support Taiwan independence.

In his meeting with Xi, Biden reportedly cautioned Beijing against interfering in Taiwan’s elections early next year, saying: “I made clear I didn’t expect any interference.”

Here’s the interesting part, though. What exactly is Taiwan in the eyes of the US government? And who is interfering in Taiwan’s elections?

A campaign billboard featuring Foxconn Technology Group founder Terry Gou on a building in Taipei, Taiwan, on November 1. Gou is running as an independent in the island’s elections. Photo: Bloomberg

The Taiwan question has always been at the core of China’s national interests. The US is quite aware of this. That’s why it often plays the Taiwan card. As a Chinese person, I believe in the final reunion – though the US is making it a bumpy road, and damaging bilateral relations along the way.

But there is a silver lining: the people. In his speech at a business dinner in San Francisco last week, Xi said it was the Chinese and American people who had laid the foundation of China-US relations and opened the doors, and that it would be the people who wrote the stories and created the future of China-US relations.

That the friendship between the two peoples is a source of strength is an idea he has often expressed, such as during his recent meeting with California governor Gavin Newsom.

03:47

‘Door to China-US relations will not be closed again’: Xi Jinping offers assurances to US businesses

Although official relations between the two countries have had their ups and downs, exchanges between people have never been cut off and there is a tradition of non-governmental interactions boosting official relations. Well-known examples include the “ping-pong diplomacy” of the 1970s and heroic deeds of the “Flying Tigers”, pilots of the First American Volunteer Group who helped China repel the Japanese invasion in the 1940s.

Last month, Flying Tiger veterans travelled to China with the first, second, third and even fourth-generation family members of other Flying Tigers. I was impressed by the words of Nell Calloway, granddaughter of the late Flying Tiger leader, General Claire Chennault.

In a CGTN interview, she said she felt a “responsibility” to talk about the friendship the Chinese and Americans shared during World War II because it “helps us to build a foundation for the future”.

When asked if she could bear it if that foundation of friendship was being shaken, Calloway said that even “family members don’t always get along”. The director of the Chennault Aviation and Military Museum in Louisiana said many veterans she had interviewed spoke of the Chinese they had fought alongside as “brothers” and that this feeling was “something that we can build on”.

US World War II veteran Harry Moyer speaks next to his compatriot Mel McMullen, with US ambassador to China Nicholas Burns (extreme left) and Nell Calloway (extreme right), whose grandfather led the Flying Tigers, at a ceremony in honour of the volunteer group and their descendants at the US embassy in Beijing on October 30. Photo: AP

“Family members”, even “brothers”, these are rare words when it comes to describing US-China relations. I am touched to learn that there are those who cherish the friendship in these terms.

I want to end with the wise words of Flying Tiger Mel McMullen, who is in his late 90s: “People are the same. Their governments may be different, but the people actually always have one desire, and that is to live and to raise their families in peace, and in the customs of their predecessors.”

There is a Chinese saying that those who do not listen to the advice of the elderly will suffer. One hopes the US government is listening.

Wei Wei is the former chief correspondent of the Eurasian bureau based in Moscow of China Central Television