Beijing: “China and US must choose between cooperation or conflict” | Abroad

On Sunday, Blinken met his Chinese colleague Qin Gang. The conversation lasted hours and was much longer than planned. Qin Gang said he will also be able to visit the US in due course.

On Monday, the US secretary of state met Wang Yi, chief of the Chinese Communist Party’s foreign affairs committee. He is higher in the hierarchy than the foreign minister. The top diplomat spoke of a choice that China and the US face: “It is necessary to make a choice between dialogue and confrontation, cooperation and conflict”, the diplomat is quoted by the Chinese state channel ‘CCTV’ after the interview. . Relations between the US and China are at a “critical” point, Yi said. He also asks that Washington stop “hyping the Chinese threat”.

Wang Yi spent about three hours with Blinken on Monday. The top diplomat stressed during the conversation that China will not make “any compromise” over Taiwan. “The preservation of national unity has always been at the heart of China’s fundamental interests,” he said. Beijing will therefore “make no compromises or concessions about this”. China still considers Taiwan, which has been independent since 1949, to be Chinese territory.

There is speculation in Beijing that Blinken may also be received by President Xi Jinping later on Monday, as a special gesture to the American guest. But the Chinese government has not confirmed this.

LOOK. Blinken meets his counterpart Qin Gang

Blinken made it “very clear” at the Beijing rallies that the US does not want to disengage from China. He expressed his wish to stabilize the relationship between the two superpowers and prevent competition from becoming bogged down in conflict.

Relations between the US and China have been severely strained over a slew of controversial issues. Among other things, China’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, threats from Beijing to Taiwan and the ongoing trade dispute between the two countries are causing conflict.

There are also espionage allegations and US sanctions against Chinese technology giants. The treatment of the Uyghur minority and Chinese claims in the South China Sea further sour relations between the two countries. President Joe Biden’s administration sees China as the biggest geopolitical challenge and is cracking down on Beijing.

LOOK. US on Ukraine war: “China is not impartial”