A Chinese diplomat's reply to our critics: Visit and in person

There is almost no famous American politician criticizing China. This month, Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton's stern book, “Seven Things You Can't Say” – visited the New York Times best-selling list. Set the tone for the 192-page publication, the first chapter called “China is an evil empire.”

Last week, a Chinese American diplomat responded fiercely to critics in the country, especially those who haven’t spent there: visiting the place in person.

Chinese consul of New York, Chen Li, said in an interview with Forbes China that people who travel to the country “will not give this worst definition of China.” “When they come back, they will say China is not what the media describes…it is definitely a different world.”

Of course, this month China has been attended by celebrities from American corporate elites in Beijing. According to media reports, these include Apple's Tim Cook, FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam, Cargill CEO Brian Sikes, Medtronic CEO Geoffrey Martha, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon.

From the political world, Steve Daines of Montana is also an ally of Donald Trump. “This visit is the first step in arranging and building the next step, and it will be a very important meeting between President Xi Jinping and President Trump – when that happens, I don't know, I don't know.”

China is very important to a meeting with the U.S. leader and welcomes the gathering with Trump. “The personal relationship between the heads of state is very important,” he noted. “We hope this visit will continue.”

Chen also said such meetings “are not just saying hello, shaking hands, and having a cup of tea.” Instead, “there should be some results, achievements, and setting the tone for future relationships.”

“Is it the atmosphere now? We don't know,” Chen quoted the American signal.

After changing visa policies late last year, visiting China is now much easier for most Americans. The country began on December 17 that it would expand its visa-free transit policy by allowing U.S. citizens to stay on tickets to third countries or regions for 10 days.

This doesn't mean anyone can enter. Journalists face different visa rules than tourists. Easy transit visa rules cannot cover up geopolitical differences between Washington and Beijing in Taiwan and the South China Sea and between disputes such as economic policy and espionage.

However, China still cannot ignore the global force, the main military force and the second largest national in the world as the largest economic partner of the United States. The United States provides the industry with a chain for everything from automobiles to pharmaceuticals; millions of Americans regularly use and enjoy China-controlled social networking site Tiktok and e-commerce platform Temu. Just this week, Chinese auto giant Byd made Tesla headlines around the world in launching time-saving electric battery charger technology, while Tesla CEO Elon Musk was distracted by his high-profile political role in Washington.

Chen, 57, started his first American position in the United States in October last year, replacing Huang Ping for six years. This is an important role for China: as of 2022, half of the 4.7 million Chinese-Americans live in New York and California as of 2022.

After previously working in Europe, including the Finnish ambassador, Chen said he was surprised by his trip to the United States to discover curiosity about China and believed that more human-to-person connections would help the relationship. “When we meet ordinary people, they are very curious about China.” “There are two views on China from the American side: the people and politicians. So why is it so separate and divided?” Cotton's book and other harsh criticisms of the Chinese Communist Party remind diplomats to tell stories frequently in Hollywood: “There needs to be enemies,” Chen said.

One of the stability factors between the two parties may be investment. He said that when Chen Zaizai called on the state government, officials widely “welcome Chinese investment there.” An example is Fuyao Glass America, Ohio, where he visited this month. Chen said: “I hope to see more and more success stories here in the United States.” He is also optimistic about China's plan to encourage American college students to visit China.

However, Chen pointed out that the White House called China an “adversary” in a statement last month about its “America No. 1 investment policy” and threatened to limit everything from trade to student enrollment. He said part of the relationship would damage Chinese companies' confidence in investing in the United States.

Chen's more optimistic observations were overshadowed by polls, suggesting Americans are concerned about their relationship with China. For example, last year’s Pew study found that 10 in 8 Americans have negative views on the country.

As Chen Ying said, more people-to-people outreach is the only way, so there is still a lot of work to be done.

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