Washington must face up to the times

On Friday, President Xi Jinping spoke on the telephone with US President Joe Biden, the second phone talks between them since Biden took office in January. In their candid, in-depth and wide-ranging conversation, the two leaders exchanged views on China-US ties and issues of common concern.

As the largest developing and developed countries, relations between China and the United States are of great significance. And as President Xi said, getting the relationship right is not optional, it is something both countries must do, and must do well.

The Sino-US relationship is experiencing severe difficulties, and there are frictions even in areas where the two sides had good cooperation in the past. The root cause lies in the wrong attitude Washington has toward China, which means it is attempting to set back China's modernization process.

Guided by that wrong thinking, the US has been constantly challenging China's major interests and adopting an antagonistic stance toward China. What the US is doing is hurting both countries, as well as the interests of the rest of the world.

It is time the US corrected this. No single country can handle the unprecedented changes in the global situation and the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic alone. Global cooperation is a must for all. Whether the two countries can cooperate effectively is of key importance to whether the international community can effectively address all the grave challenges it faces. However, the ball lies in the US court.

The US should give up the illusion that it can contain China's rise and get China to cooperate with it unconditionally. The history of the Sino-US relationship proves that only when the two sides respect each other's core interests and concerns, and properly manage their differences can they find a solid basis for cooperation.

The international community has repeatedly expressed hopes that China and the US can strengthen their cooperation on major topics such as climate change, pandemic prevention and control, as well as the global economic recovery. The US has also said more than once that it hopes to have more dialogue and cooperation with China. Now is the time for the US to show its sincerity.

Since China and the US established diplomatic relations in 1971, the cooperation between the two countries has benefited the world. It is time for the two countries to get their relationship back on the right track.

To do that, the US must correct its approach, and work with China on the basis of mutual respect and equality.