Global Courant 2023-05-08 21:11:05
China’s foreign minister said on Monday that a “series of wrong words and actions” by the United States had put relations between the two superpowers on an “ice cold” but that stabilizing ties was a “top priority”.
Qin Gang made the comments during a meeting in Beijing with US Ambassador Nicholas Burns, their first since a dispute over a Chinese balloon derailed efforts to improve ties earlier this year.
“The agenda of dialogue and cooperation agreed by both sides has also severed relations between the two countries and hit the ice cold once again,” he said, according to a statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
In a brief tweet, Burns said he and Qin discussed “challenges in US-China relations and the need to stabilize ties and expand high-level communication.”
“The top priority now is to stabilize Sino-US relations, avoid a downward spiral and prevent any accident between China and the US,” Qin told Burns, according to the Chinese reading. “This should be the most basic consensus between China and the US.”
Qin urged the United States to “reflect deeply” and “meet China halfway” to move bilateral relations away from their current state.
“(The US) cannot talk about communication on the one hand, but continue to suppress and contain China on the other,” he said, adding that Washington must respect China’s bottom line and stop harming China’s sovereignty, security and its development interests, especially on the issue of Taiwan, a self-governing democracy that Beijing claims as its own.
Reiterating Beijing’s talking points, Qin urged the US to end support for “Taiwan independent” forces.
Monday’s meeting was Qin’s first with Burns since the former Chinese ambassador to the US was promoted to foreign minister in December. It also followed Burns’ comments last week that the US is “ready to talk” with China.
“Our view is that we need better channels between the two governments and deeper channels, and we’re ready to talk,” Burns said at an event at the Stimson Center, which he attended virtually.
“We have never been shy about speaking up and we hope the Chinese will meet us halfway on this,” he said.
Burns said at the Stimson Center event that the US has called on China to open all channels suspended after Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan. He reiterated that Blinken’s visit to China would be rescheduled “when conditions are suitable”.
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