2023年2月15日
 
感谢各位今晚欢迎我来参加这个盛大的晚宴。感谢华刚林、何迈可、以及美国商会在北京的整个团队。
 
美国使团出席的所有人，包括我们的副团长米德伟，高级商务公参Laurie Farris，都不胜感谢。
 
我也要向中方的同仁致意，感谢万钢副主席的莅临。感谢国际贸易代表王受文副部长、中国国际贸易促进委员会任鸿斌会长、以及其他中国官员今晚的出席。
 
我今晚很荣幸与各位一同参加美国商会的年度答谢晚宴。
 
在今晚的发言中，我要简短提出三点。
 
首先，我要感谢美国商会伙伴对我们使领馆的大力支持。美国商会的诸位，是美国政府与在华美国企业之间在这里重要的联系。
 
我上任大使快一年了。我得说，美国商会令我刮目相看。各位的建言和支持让我受益良多，我在美国使团的所有同事也深有同感。
 
美国商会坚定不移地在中国和美国政府中为美国企业发声，提供各位宝贵的平台，确保各位拥有取得成功的最佳环境。
 
美国商会也在美中经济关系中扮演重要的角色，并在美国国内创造工作机会。商务部在上周才刚宣布美中贸易总额，双边货物贸易额达6,906亿美元。中国是美国继加拿大和墨西哥后的第三大贸易伙伴。美国对华出口在2022年达到1,540亿美元的记录水平。再者，农业部也才公布美国对华农产品有史以来最高的销售金额409亿美元，这是去年美国农场主和牧场主最大的出口市场。
 
感谢美国商会扮演积极为美国企业发声的角色，并为其在中国争取公平的竞争环境。
 
我们感谢您们所做的调查报告和简报，阐述美国企业所面临的诸多挑战和机会。美国商会的会员企业熟知双边贸易关系长久以来的问题，以及中国政府大量不公平的经济政策和实践，仍旧尚未解决。
 
作为大使，我很关注经济关系中的不平衡继续不断扩大，其大部分是因为中国政府政策所导致的。
 
我和我在美国使团的同事研读了500多页的美国商会白皮书，其详细提供尚有多少中国政府仍未解决的长期关注，包括：中国政府长期对国有企业的扶持；补贴和产业政策；在采购过程中偏向国产品；对外国文化产品的审查和其他限制；严苛的网络安全和数据本地化要求；以及令人无法接受的网络入侵—这都还只是其中的一些。
 
我们对于在中国保护各位的知识产权持续有着深切的关注，虽然多年来努力不断。这些有关中国对美国知识产权侵犯关注，近年来变得越来越复杂，越来越令人担忧。
 
在我们长期为美国企业争取公平竞争环境的努力中， 美国商会和类似性质的组织很是重要。今晚在座的各位对这些努力都是至关重要的。
 
我可以向您保证，美国使团会继续支持在此地从商，但面临诸多挑战的美国企业。
 
我们希望在所有议题上都能帮助在华的美国企业。我们在美国使团会继续向中方的同行对口，捍卫各位的立场。我们将毫不动摇地坚持那些重要的美国利益，并要中国政府担负责任。
 
我要提出的第二点，今晚在座的各位一定不会感到意外。过去的一年，是记忆中最具挑战性的之一。我们的使领馆竭尽全力提供支援，确保美国公民和企业在新冠疫情期间度过种种挑战，这令我感到骄傲。
 
2022年年初，一年前清零政策全面实施，我们所面临的情况和今天非常不一样。
 
在数个月期间，多次、时不时的封控、对工作和旅行的干扰、令人无法接受的发烧医院、烦不胜烦的检测和其他种种发生时，我们美国使团的团队动员协助解决美国公民的旅行事宜、取得医疗照顾、并应对多起富挑战性的情况。
 
最困难的莫过于去年春天上海封城。我们动员所有派驻地的人员来进行支援，派遣60多名官员满足数千名美国公民的需求，来度过危机。
 
我们设立24小时的指挥中心，应对处理行动和资源前所未有过的限制。
 
我希望您们都感受到，总领事何乐进领导有方的美国驻上海总领馆所提供给美国商界的支援。
 
如今，清零、封控、大规模检测幸好都已成过去，让我们期盼美国企业的营商环境，2023年的可预见性会比去年来得高。我也期待今年能到中国各地访问，也能造访各位的企业，第一手看看美国商界在这里的运作。
 
我最后的第三点，是过去几周大家都看到的，这是美国与中国双边关系中真正面临挑战的时刻。拜登总统的战略很清楚 – 处理美中关系，“投资、协同、竞争”。
 
我们对国内的基础设施和经济进行的的确确是世代性的重大投资；加强我们和日本、澳大利亚、韩国、菲律宾和泰国的历史盟友关系，也建立美英澳三边安全伙伴关系，并扩大四方安全对话的合作。其结果就是，极大地增强了美国在印太的战略地位。当必要时，在与中国的竞争上，我们也不会退缩，因为这经常是在安全、经济、技术和人权领域。
 
当中国政府经济政策损害我们的国家安全时，我们会对其加以保护，就如同其他国家所在做的一样。各位已经看到，例如我们近几个月来，在关键技术领域对中国采取强有力的出口管制行动。正如国务卿安东尼·布林肯最近所做的发言，“如火如荼的竞争正在展开，其将打造接下来真正会发生的情况”，技术将扮演重要的角色重整我们的经济，并重塑整个星球上人们的生活。
 
 
总而言之，我们将继续坚持美国根本的价值观，包括涉及新疆、西藏和香港人权的首要性。让我们铭记法治、公平竞争、人类尊严和自由是营商环境成功必不可少的。铭记这一点，美国企业必须继续遵守《防止强迫维吾尔人劳动法》中严格的规定。
 
如同各位可以从我们的政策和行动上所看到的，我们将在美中关系中，继续保护我们的国家安全，并在关键技术上保持尽可能大的领先。
 
美国也始终如一地表示，我们已经准备好与中国在我们利益重合的领域合作，例如气候变化、全球卫生、打击非法芬太尼前体运输和其对美国各地所造成的毁灭性影响、粮食安全。
 
最后，过去的两周对我们与中国的关系特别具有挑战性，因为不负责任、非法的中国侦察气球，公开侵犯美国的主权、领土完整、以及国际法。
 
如同拜登总统上周在国情咨文中所说的，让我在此引述：“我们寻求的是竞争而不是冲突。但我不认为我们投资美国以使其更为强大有任何不妥。投资于美国的创新，投资于那些决定未来的、中国试图主导的产业。投资于我们的联盟，并与我们的盟友合作以保护我们的先进技术不被用来针对我们。”
 
“今天，我们处于几十年以来最强健的地位，可以与中国或世界上其他任何国家竞争。在那些可以促进美国利益并造福全世界的领域，我致力于与中国合作。但毋庸置疑：正如上周我们所表明的，如果中国威胁到我们的主权，我们将采取行动保护我们的国家。并且我们已经这样做了。”
 
简而言之，美国驻华使团将持续支持美国商会。
 
我们期待在接下来的一年与各位合作。齐心共进，我们将确保在华的美国企业取得成功。我们美国使团的大门对在华的美国企业都是敞开的。我们期待在未来的几个月与诸位见面。
 
我祝各位兔年鸿图大展，万事安康，并期待与诸位一起努力，达到我们共同的目标。
 
刚林、迈可和所有美国商会的人员，感谢您们精心筹备的晚宴。
 
感谢给我如此殊荣来此演讲。

February 15, 2023
 
Thank you very much for welcoming me tonight to this magnificent dinner. Thank you to Colm, Michael, and the entire AmCham team here in Beijing.
 
All of us here from the U.S. Mission, including our Deputy Chief of Mission, Dave Meale and Senior Minister Councilor for Commercial Affairs, Laurie Farris, are very grateful.
 
And to our Chinese colleagues, thank you Vice Chairman Wan Gang for your participation. Thank you to International Trade Representative Vice Minister Wang Shouwen, Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Ren Hongbin, and other Chinese officials who are here tonight.
 
It is my great pleasure to join you this evening for the AmCham’s Annual Appreciation dinner.
 
I want to make three brief points in my remarks this evening.
 
First, I want to acknowledge the immense support our embassy and consulates receive from our AmCham partners. You in AmCham are a vital link between the U.S. government and American businesses here in China.
 
I’ve been Ambassador here for nearly a year. And I must tell you—I’ve been very impressed by AmCham.  I’ve benefited from your advice and support, as have all my colleagues in the U.S. Mission.
 
AmCham is a steadfast advocate for American businesses with both the Chinese and U.S. governments – offering all of you a valued platform to ensure you have the best environment possible to succeed.
 
AmCham has also played a key role in the U.S.-China Economic relationship while creating jobs back home in the USA. The Department of Commerce announced just last week the final 2022 U.S.-China trade figures.  They show $690.6 billion in two-way trade in goods.  China is the third largest U.S. trade partner after Canada and Mexico.  American exports to China reached a record level of $154 billion in 2022.  In addition, the Department of Agriculture just announced its highest figure ever of $40.9 billion in U.S. agriculture sales to China, the largest export market for American farmers and ranchers last year.
 
We appreciate the role AmCham is playing in actively advocating for American businesses and championing a level playing field in the PRC.
 
We are thankful for your surveys and briefings on the many challenges and opportunities that U.S. businesses are facing. AmCham members know well the longstanding issues in the bilateral trade relationship and the vast array of unfair Chinese government economic policies and practices that remain unaddressed.
 
As Ambassador, I am concerned that imbalances in the economic relationship caused in large part by unfair PRC government policies, continue to grow.
 
My colleagues and I at the U.S. Mission have reviewed and studied the 500+ page AmCham White Paper, which provides important detail on how many of these long-standing concerns remain unaddressed by the PRC government, including: the PRC’s longstanding support for its state enterprises; its subsidies and industrial policies; its preferences for domestic products in the procurement processes; its censorship and other restrictions on foreign cultural products; its strict cybersecurity and data localization requirements; and its objectionable cyber intrusions – to name just a few.
 
And we have deep and continued concerns about protecting your intellectual property in China despite years of sustained efforts. These concerns – about Chinese violations of American intellectual property – have only become more complex and worrisome in recent years.
 
The American Chamber and its fraternal organizations are central to our long struggle for a level playing field for U.S. firms. Everyone here this evening is critical to these efforts.
 
I can assure you the U.S. Mission will continue to support American businesses facing the many challenges to doing business here.
 
We want to help American companies in the PRC on all these issues. We in the U.S. Mission will continue to work with our PRC counterparts to make your case.  We will be unwavering in asserting these important American interests and in holding the PRC accountable.
 
My second point will not surprise anyone in this room tonight. The year past was among the most challenging in memory.  I am proud of the hard work that our embassy and consulates did to ensure that American citizens and businesses were supported throughout the challenges that came with the Covid-19 pandemic.
 
In early 2022 — one year ago with Zero-COVID policies in full effect – we were facing a very different situation than we are today.
 
During the numerous and sporadic lockdowns, disruptions to work and travel, objectionable fever hospitals, intrusive testing and more over many months, our U.S. Mission team mobilized to help U.S. citizens travel, receive medical care, and address many other challenging situations.
 
Nowhere was this more difficult than during last spring’s extended lockdown in Shanghai. We mobilized support for those affected by drawing from all of our posts, deploying over 60 officers to meet the needs of thousands of American citizens throughout the crisis.
 
We ran a 24-hour command center and confronted unprecedented mobility and resource restrictions.
 
I hope you all felt that support for the American business community by the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai, led by our outstanding Consul General Jim Heller.
 
With Zero-COVID, lockdowns, and mass testing all mercifully behind us, let us hope the environment for American business will be more predictable in 2023 than the year past. I am looking forward to traveling throughout China this year and visiting many of your companies and seeing first-hand the work that the U.S. business community is doing here.
 
My third and final point is one that has come into full view in the last few weeks — this is a time of genuine challenge in the bilateral relationship between the U.S. and China. President Biden’s strategy is clear — “invest, align, compete” in U.S.-China relations.
 
We are making major, indeed generational investments in our infrastructure and economy at home; we are strengthening our historic alliances with Japan, Australia, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, and Thailand as well as with the creation of AUKUS and expanding cooperation in the Quad. The result is that the strategic position of the U.S. here in the Indo-Pacific has been strengthened immeasurably.  We will also never shrink from competition with the PRC when that is necessary, as it often is in the security, economic, technology, and human rights realms.
 
We will protect our national security when it is undermined by PRC economic policies, just as other countries are doing.  You have, for example, seen this in our strong export control actions against China in recent months in key technology areas. As Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently remarked, “there’s an intense competition that’s underway to shape what actually comes next,” and technology will play a key role in retooling our economies and will reshape the lives of people across the planet.
 
More broadly, we will continue to assert foundational American values, including with regard to the primacy of human rights in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong.  Let us remember that the rule of law, fair play, and human dignity and freedom are essential to a successful business climate. With that in mind, American firms must continue to abide by the strict requirements of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
 
As you can see from our policies and actions, we will continue to protect our national security in the U.S.-China relationship and maintain as large a lead as possible in critical technologies.
 
The U.S. has also been consistent in saying that we are ready to work with China when our interests coincide— such as on climate change, global health, the fight against illicit shipment of Fentanyl precursors and the devastating impact it has had across America, and food security.
 
Finally, the past two weeks have been particularly challenging for our relationship with China with the irresponsible and illegal PRC surveillance balloon and its open violation of U.S. sovereignty, territorial integrity, and international law.
 
As President Biden said in his State of the Union Address last week — let me quote him here: “we seek competition, not conflict. But I will make no apologies that we’re investing to make America stronger.  Investing in American innovation, in industries that will define the future, that China intends to be dominating. Investing in our alliances and working with our allies to protect advanced technologies so they will not be used against us.”
 
“Today, we’re in the strongest position in decades to compete with China or anyone else in the world. And I am committed to work with China where we can advance American interests and benefit the world.  But make no mistake about it: As we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country.  And we did.”
 
In sum, the U.S. Mission in China will continue to support AmCham.
 
We look forward to another year of continued collaboration with you. Together, we will ensure the success of U.S. business in China.  Our U.S. Mission doors are open to all American companies here in China.  We look forward to meeting with all of you in the months ahead.
 
I wish you all a prosperous and healthy year of the rabbit and look forward to working together to achieve our mutual goals.
 
To Colm, Michael, and all in AmCham — thank you for this dinner.
 
Thank you for the privilege of speaking this evening.