In principle, we should not fight a war we are not prepared for, a war we are not sure of winning, a war of anger and attrition. - Cui Tiankai

However, nothing can sever the friendly ties between the two peoples. Over the past year, I have been much busier than before the pandemic in taking part in various kinds of online meetings and talks, and I was often overwhelmed by the passion from both countries for greater exchanges and mutual understanding. There is no place for McCarthyism in the 21st century, and no one can push the two peoples back to the era of estrangement and isolation.

First of all, China's development, China's growth, has been made possible by the hard work of the Chinese people and our more than 40 years of reform and opening-up. This is a historical fact. To say otherwise is against the facts and certainly not fair to the Chinese people. Internationally, China always stands for the basic norms governing international relations as embodied in the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter. We always support multilateral institutions, the international system centered on the United Nations, including, for instance, the WHO, the WTO and a number of others. We already contribute more troops than other permanent members of the Security Council to the UN peacekeeping operations. We are already contributing a great deal to the global economic growth. We're ready to do more.

I don't think we have an entirely new foreign policy. We have been very consistent in our foreign policy. It's an independent policy of peace. Of course we safeguard our sovereignty and independence. There's no doubt about that.