China and the United States must choose between “cooperation or conflict,” Beijing’s top diplomat told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday, the final day of a trip aimed at repairing the two countries’ troubled relations.
According to a State Department official, Blinken and Wang Yi, China’s highest-ranking foreign policy official, chatted for three hours on Monday at the elegant state guesthouse in the historic Diaoyutai gardens.
Neither Washington nor Beijing has confirmed a meeting between Blinken and Xi, China’s most powerful leader in decades, who met with President Joe Biden in Bali in November, raising cautious hopes for a warming in the relationship.
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However, American diplomats believe a meeting with Xi is likely.
“The Secretary of State’s trip to Beijing this time comes at a critical juncture in China-US relations,” Wang told Blinken, according to a readout from Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
“It is necessary to make a choice between dialogue and confrontation, cooperation or conflict,” he said.
“We must reverse the downward spiral of China-US relations, push for a return to a healthy and stable track, and work together to find a correct way for China and the United States to get along,” Wang added.
He also sent a warning to Taiwan, which Beijing claims is a self-governing democracy.
In response to activities by top US politicians, China has conducted two live-fire military drills near the island in the last year.
“On this issue, China has no room to compromise or concede,” Wang told Blinken, according to CCTV.
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“The United States must truly adhere to the One China principle confirmed in the three joint US-China communiques, respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and clearly oppose ‘Taiwan independence’.”
Before their encounter, Blinken and Wang exchanged pleasantries and nice grins in front of the cameras.
They then went into a conference with their aides, who, like their bosses, were wearing masks in accordance with Covid-19 standards.
Tensions have risen in recent years between the world’s two largest economies over topics ranging from trade to technology to Taiwan.
Officials in the United States say they do not expect huge breakthroughs from Blinken’s meetings, but they do seek to reopen regular channels of contact in order to prevent errors from developing into confrontation.
Both countries announced on Sunday that Qin had accepted an invitation to return to Washington at a later date.
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Blinken met with Foreign Minister Qin Gang for seven and a half hours on Sunday, which was longer than expected, and the two sides agreed to keep in touch.
The talks with Qin were “candid, substantive and constructive”, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
Blinken stressed, “the importance of diplomacy and maintaining open channels of communication across the full range of issues to reduce the risk of misperception and miscalculation,” Miller added.
Behind closed doors, Qin told Blinken that relations between the United States and China “are at the lowest point since the establishment of diplomatic relations”, according to CCTV.
“This does not conform to the fundamental interests of the two peoples, nor does it meet the common expectations of the international community,” Qin said during the talks.
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A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the discussions went beyond the usual talking points.
“This was a real conversation,” he said.
AFP
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