Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing on Friday.
Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that currently China-U.S. relations have generally stabilized, avoiding further deterioration, but negative factors are still growing and accumulating.
China’s attitude, stance and requirements have always been consistent, Wang said, adding that China views and develops China-U.S. relations from the global vision of building a community with a shared future for humanity, adheres to the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, and proposes respect for each other’s core interests.
In November last year, the presidents of the two countries met in San Francisco and jointly outlined a future-oriented San Francisco vision for the stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations, which should be fully implemented, he said.
He said that in the current turbulent international situation, the two countries should first answer a fundamental question on their relationship, which is whether China and the United States should be partners or rivals, adding that it is like the first button of a shirt that must be put right for the stable development of bilateral relations.
If the United States constantly regards China as its main rival, China-U.S. relations are bound to remain fraught with troubles and problems, Wang said.
Noting that the Taiwan question is the “first red line” that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations, Wang said China demands that the United States should faithfully abide by the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, refrain from sending wrong signals to the “Taiwan independence” separatists in any way, and act on U.S. President Joe Biden’s commitment of not supporting “Taiwan independence,” not supporting “two Chinas” or “one China, one Taiwan,” and not seeking to use the Taiwan question as a tool to contain China.
China also demands that the United States should stop arming Taiwan, and support China’s peaceful reunification, he added.
Wang said the Chinese people’s right to development is inalienable. The United States has taken endless measures to suppress China’s economy, trade as well as science and technology, he said, noting that “this is not fair competition but containment, not de-risking but creating risks.”
The United States should implement its statement that it does not seek to contain China’s economic development, does not seek to “decouple” from China, and is not intended to halt China’s scientific and technological progress, Wang said.
It should stop hyping up the false narrative of “overcapacity” in China, revoke illegal sanctions on Chinese companies, and stop imposing 301 tariffs that violate WTO rules, he said.
Noting that the Asia-Pacific region should not become an arena for major-country contest, Wang said it is hoped that the U.S. side will make the right choice, work with China to achieve positive interactions in the Asia-Pacific, stop forming exclusive small groupings, refrain from pressuring regional countries to take sides, stop deploying land-based intermediate-range missiles, stop undermining China’s strategic security interests and stop undermining the hard-won peace and stability in the region.
For his part, Blinken said the U.S.-China relationship is the most important bilateral relationship in the world, and it is the shared responsibility of both countries to manage it responsibly.
He said the United States continues to abide by the one-China policy and does not support “Taiwan independence,” adding that the U.S. side does not seek to change China’s system, has no intention of conflicting with China, does not seek to decouple from China, and does not seek to contain China’s development.
A developing and successful China is good for the world, and the United States is willing to work with China on the basis of the consensus reached by the two presidents in San Francisco, strengthen dialogue and communication, effectively manage differences, avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation, and promote the steady development of U.S.-China relations, Blinken said.
The two sides also exchanged views on issues related to Ukraine, the Palestine-Israel conflict, the Korean Peninsula and Myanmar.
The two sides agreed that the talks were candid, substantive and constructive, and agreed to continue to work hard to stabilize and develop bilateral relations in accordance with the guidance of the two heads of state.
The two sides affirmed the positive progress made in China-U.S. dialogue and cooperation in various fields since the San Francisco summit, agreed to speed up the implementation of the important consensus reached by the two heads of state in San Francisco, maintain high-level exchanges and contacts at all levels, continue to carry out military exchanges and consultations in various fields, and further promote China-U.S. cooperation on drug control, climate change and artificial intelligence, while taking measures to expand cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.
The two sides expressed readiness to strengthen communication on international and regional hotspot issues.
