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US-China relations
ChinaDiplomacy

China will not fall into ‘trap’ of war in Taiwan Strait: former envoy Cui Tiankai

  • China’s longest-serving ambassador to Washington tells conference ‘someone’ may be preparing for proxy conflict with Chinese killing Chinese
  • Cui’s remarks were an apparent reference to US arms sales to Taiwan, which have continued despite Beijing’s objections

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Cui Tiankai, who stepped down as China’s ambassador to Washington in 2021, at the Asia Society panel discussion in Washington. Photo: YouTube/ @asiasociety
Yuanyue Dangin Beijing
China’s former ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai said Beijing will not fall into a trap of “someone” starting a war in the Taiwan Strait.
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“We certainly don’t want to see a situation where Chinese are killing Chinese,” he told the Asia Spotlight conference.

In a panel discussion on the geopolitical outlook, as part of the Asia Society Policy Institute event in Washington on January 25, Cui said China’s first priority in foreign policy “is always relations with the United States”.

In footage posted online on January 30, Cui did not comment on the possible election of Donald Trump, but said he hoped Washington would take into account the interests of Asia-Pacific countries, including China.

Cui, who is now an adviser to the official Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs, also said that Asia-Pacific countries should work to stop tensions in the region worsening to Cold War levels or run the risk of a “dangerous decade”.

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Cui was China’s longest-serving ambassador to the US since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1979, spending more than eight years in the role before stepping down in 2021.

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