BEIJING: China’s President Xi Jinping on Monday (Dec 30) offered his condolences over the death of Jimmy Carter, saying the former US president was the driving force behind the establishment of diplomatic ties between both countries more than 40 years ago.
Carter died at his home in Plains, Georgia, on Sunday at the age of 100.
During his 1977-1981 tenure, the US government established formal relations with China, building on the groundwork laid by former President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger earlier in the 1970s.
Xi extended “deep condolences” on the passing of Carter in a message sent to US President Joe Biden, state news agency Xinhua reported.
“Former President Carter was the driving force behind the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, and made important contributions to the development of China-US relations and the friendly exchanges and cooperation between the two countries,” Xinhua cited Xi as saying.
“China-US ties are among the most import bilateral relationships in the world,” he said, adding that China is willing to work with the US to advance their relations.
The Carter administration’s decision to acknowledge in 1979 Beijing’s position that there is only one China and Taiwan is part of China, and to sever formal ties with Taiwan, helped chart a new course in ties.
“His historic contribution to the normalisation and development of China-US relations will always be remembered by the Chinese people,” Xie Feng, the Chinese ambassador to the United States, wrote on X.
In the same year, 1979, the US government, while adhering to its One-China policy, also passed the Taiwan Relations Act, which establishes a legal basis to provide the island with the means to defend itself.
Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.
US weapons sales to Taiwan allowed by the Taiwan Relations Act remain a point of friction in Sino-US ties to this day, with Beijing regularly urging Washington to adhere to its One-China principle, and laying sanctions on US military suppliers and corporate executives.
Other pacts signed during Carter’s tenure included the US-China Science and Technology Agreement (STA) in 1979, a science cooperation deal that some critics say has disproportionately benefited Washington’s top geopolitical rival over the decades.
