Jimmy Carter’s thoughts on US-China relations. 

Published: October 03,2022

By Gerald Mbanda

On October 1, former US President Jimmy Carter turned 98 years, a day that coincides with the NationalDay of The People’s Republic of China. China celebrated the 73 anniversary of the founding of the PRC. During Jimmy Carter’s presidency, one can easily say that he was more understanding of the importance of Sino-American relations and willing to establish better diplomatic relations than the regimesbefore. Even after him, there has not been any other US president with a sincere foreign policy on China. 

During Jimmy Carter’s presidency, Sino-American relations reached a big milestone on December 15, 1978, when he was barely one year in office, when the US and China announced establishment of officialdiplomatic relations. As part of the agreement, the United States recognized the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government of China, and declared it would withdraw diplomatic recognition from Taiwan (also known then as the Republic of China [ROC]). The US acknowledged the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China.

Today, the US administration in relation to Taiwan, behaves in an ambiguous way that is confusing, but on the other hand very clear, that they are dealing with Taiwan as a separate territory from China and also provide weapons meant to support pro separatists to alienated Taiwan from mainland China. This is outright provocation of a proxy war between US and Chinausing Taiwan as bait. 

Reflecting on former US president Jimmy Carter’s thoughts on US and China, one can see in him a man who is open minded, giving China credit for a number of successes and also bold enough to criticize his country for human rights violations, poor foreign policy and making wrong economic choices.  

In 2014, Jimmy Carter said, “ One of the greatest violations of human rights is the inability to live in peace and if you go around the world and ask people which country is the most war like country on earth, which one do you think they would respond? The United States.” However, the US administration ignores such facts put forward by a former president and instead of correcting its own mistakes; shifts blame to other countries including China for violation of human rights. Human rights has lost value and meaning as it is used by US and other western countries as a political tool against their perceived “enemies.”

In 2015, jimmy Carter saw the hegemony of US as the biggest problem in dealing with the rest of the world. He observed that since after WWII and even before, “the United States has been constantly at war in some part of the world. This may not be a good thing to say to a group of Americans. Historical trend is for the United States to relinquish its unquestioned domination of the world’s politics and economy and cultural influence.” To date, US acts as a bully against weak nations and wants to impose its political, social and cultural beliefs to other countries, as if such countries have no right to make  their own choices, or civilization.   

In 2019, Jimmy Carter told the world that since 1979 when US normalized relations with China, his country has been in constant war with Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and in many other countries. “Experteconomists estimate that we have spent about $ 3 trillion on those wars. China has not been in combat since 1979. They have a very flourishing economy to spend on things good for the Chinese people, Carter said.” He was right. China’s governance is people centered, China wants to make peace with the world and not war. When I visited China in 2019, I saw a different country from what I heard and read from western media. I saw a peaceful country, with very welcoming and friendly people. I saw a country of hard working people, a country that is developed, according to my observation. 

Jimmy Carter also gave examples to show that thegrowth of China, and how it was doing better that US is some areas. “I will just give you two or three examples; one is that they have 18,000 miles of high speed rail. How many miles do we have? To have 20 years from now? Who knows? A child born in Beijing now has a life expectancy of five years more than a child born in Washington D.C. China expects to announce in the near future that there is no more severepoverty. They have spread the wealth of China from the East coast all the way to the Western region,” Carter said. True to his word, after years of lifting millions of citizens out of poverty, in 2021, China announced elimination of absolute poverty marking the achievement of the first centenary goal. Travelling with China’s Maglev (magnetic levitation) speed trains, is as good as flying. They are un- comparable to US obsolete trains. 

In 2019, when Jimmy Carter made a personal and political reflection on US relationship with China at the time he took office in 1977, he had this to say. “I believed that the normalization of relations between our two nations would advance the cause of peace in Asia and the world. The People’s Republic of China comprised about one-fourth of the world’s total population and played a major role in international affairs. That reality needed to be officially recognized by my country. Furthermore, it was clear to me that both the Chinese and American people would benefit greatly from the commercial and cultural relations that normalization would bring. I also was confident that normalization would include a renewal of the historic friendship between us.” Can the current US administration take heed of Carter’s words of wisdomthat are more relevant now that before, on Sino-American relationship? 

Gerald Mbanda is a researcher and publisher on Africa and China