Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Qin Gang (秦剛) yesterday told the US ambassador to China that Washington is responsible for the downturn in relations between the two nations and must “reflect deeply” before ties can return to a healthy track, an official said.
Qin Gang’s comments follow a suspension of serious dialogue on a range of issues between the world’s largest economies, increasingly at odds over tariffs, attempts by Washington to deprive China of cutting-edge technology, and China’s claims to Taiwan and large parts of the South and East China seas.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs quoted Qin as telling US Ambassador to China Nicolas Burns that a “series of erroneous words and deeds by the US” since a meeting in November last year between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) “have undermined the hard-won positive momentum of Sino-US relations.”
Photo: AP
“The US side should reflect deeply, meet China halfway, and propel China-US relations out of the difficulties and back on the right track,” Qin was quoted as saying.
The US should “correct its understanding of China and return to rationality,” Qin said, repeating his earlier accusation that the US is attempting to suppress and contain China.
Beijing routinely cites US political and military support of Taiwan as infringing on its sovereignty.
Qin said ties had “grown icy,” and the priority was to stabilize them “and avoid a downward spiral and unanticipated events.”
The US should stop “undermining China’s sovereignty, security and development interests,” particularly through support of Taiwan, Qin said.
US law requires it to treat threats to Taiwan, including a military blockade, as a matter of “grave concern,” though it remains ambiguous under what conditions US forces could be dispatched to defend the nation.
Despite the lack of formal diplomatic relations, the US is Taiwan’s largest supplier of military hardware and diplomatic support, even while it maintains relations with Beijing.
At a daily briefing yesterday, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) described the meeting between Qin and Burns as ”a normal diplomatic arrangement.”
Burns wrote on Twitter that he met with Qin and discussed challenges in the US-China relationship “and the necessity of stabilizing ties and expanding high-level communication.”
In comments to a US think tank last week, Burns said Washington has been consistent in its approach toward Taiwan, and insists that “any resolution of the [cross-Taiwan Strait] differences has to be peaceful.”
“We hope that the government here in China will commit itself to a peaceful resolution of the dispute,” Burns said in an online discussion with the Washington-based Stimson Center.
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