NEW YORK – A senior Chinese official said on Jan 9 that Beijing was not seeking to reshape the global order and sought greater US cooperation, in the latest departure from past hawkish rhetoric.

At an event to mark the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Washington and Beijing, Mr Liu Jianchao, who heads the international division of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee, quoted President Xi Jinping as saying that China “will not fight a Cold War, or a hot war, with anyone”.

“People in Asia have our own way of dealing with each other which values peace above everything else, and seeks peaceful solutions to all disputes,” Mr Liu said at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

“China does not seek to change the current international order. We are one of the builders of the current world order and have benefited from it,” he said.

“As the world has entered a period of turbulence and transformation, people of all countries are counting on China and the United States to take the lead in resolving more global issues.”

Relations between the world’s two largest economies had sharply deteriorated in recent years, with prominent Chinese diplomats dubbed “wolf warriors” for their confrontational public statements against the US.

Asked if there has been a change in approach, Mr Liu said, “I don’t really believe that there has always been a kind of wolf warrior diplomacy, and there’s no talk about coming back to that diplomacy.”

His visit follows a summit in November in California between Mr Xi and US President Joe Biden, in which China agreed to address key US concerns, including by resuming military dialogue and working to combat precursor chemicals to fentanyl, which has caused an addiction epidemic in the US.

Mr Liu said China wanted “concrete and visible deliverables” on fentanyl.

US analysts have attributed China’s new tone to an eagerness to focus on economic concerns at home and noted that major gaps remain.

Chief among them is Taiwan, the self-governing democracy which China claims.

Mr Liu was measured in his remarks on Taiwan, declining to say how China would respond to Taiwan’s election on Jan 14, but saying that Taiwan was a “red line” for Beijing.

“We take seriously the statements of the United States not supporting Taiwanese independence, and we hope that the US side will honour its commitment.”

The Biden administration describes Beijing as the top challenger to US primacy, although it has taken a more measured approach rhetorically than former president Donald Trump, who has made opposition to China a signature issue as he again seeks the White House. AFP