Answering the misgivings of some countries about the so-called G2 relationship between the United States and China, Wu Jianmin, former Chinese ambassador to France, said in Washington on May 1 that the G2 has nothing to do with joint governance of the world, but is aimed at closer Sino-US cooperation that will benefit the entire international community.
Wu told China News Service that the G2 is a concept similar to the G3, G4, G7, G8 and G20, nothing more.
"China has no plan to jointly govern the world with the US. We just want to strengthen cooperation with the US and are happy to see enhanced US-Japan cooperation and US-EU cooperation," said Wu, who has been a career diplomat for over 50 years and was formerly an interpreter for Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai.
The G2 concept was invented by US economist Fred Bergsten. He advocated a partnership between the US and China to exercise global economic leadership.
"In fact the US is the only super power and China is the largest developing country. Sino-US cooperation will inevitably be strengthened because it is interests of both sides and the whole world. But cooperation will mean neither a bi-polar world dominated by the US and China, nor joint governance of the world by China and the US," Wu said.
"As China rises, there is no doubt it will play a bigger role in the world. But our aim is cooperation not hegemony. We will never act against the world community," Wu added.
Talking about the Sino-US ties since Obama became US President, Wu said that Sino-US relations usually experience a period of friction and uncertainty when a new administration comes into power. But relations have run smoothly during Obama's first 100 days in office. This shows both sides see the importance of good bilateral relations. This is a very hopeful sign, showing that leaders in both countries hope to deepen bilateral cooperation in the coming years.
(China.org.cn translated by Zhang Ming'ai, May 5, 2009)
