Gary Locke, the former governor of the state of Washington and former U.S. Ambassador to China, has called on both sides to “wind down” tensions in U.S.-China relations. Locke was recently elected chairman of the influential Committee of 100, a group of leading Chinese-Americans working to improve U.S.-China relations and the conditions for Chinese-Americans in the United States. While China and the U.S. have serious issues between them which will not be easily managed, he said, “the United States and China must strive to find common ground to work together because so many of the issues facing the world cannot be solved by the United States or by China alone.”
“Indeed, the world is looking to both the United States and China working together to solve some of the toughest problems facing our planet, from halting climate change, defining cures to some of the most dreaded diseases, to preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, to fighting global terrorism,” Locke said. “Despite current tensions, the United States and China have simply become too interdependent and connected to withdraw from each other or to engage in any kind of prolonged conflict.”
Locke was speaking to reporters after the annual meeting of the Committee of 100 on May 12 where the issue of U.S.-China relations was a chief topic.
