Global Courant
(Refiles to correct Antony’s spelling in first paragraph)
(Reuters) – China’s foreign minister, Qin Gang, urged the United States to stop interfering in its business and endangering its security during a phone call with his US counterpart on Wednesday, a tense outlook ahead on Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing, which is expected in the coming days.
According to China’s foreign ministry, Qin told Blinken to respect China’s key concerns, such as the Taiwan issue, in an effort to halt declining relations between the superpowers.
Blinken stressed the need for communication “to avoid miscalculation and conflict” and said the US would continue to raise concerns and potential cooperation with China, the State Department said in a brief summary of the call.
If Blinken’s journey continues, it will be the first visit to China by Washington’s top diplomat in five years and the most prominent visit by the administration of US President Joe Biden, who has clashed with Beijing over issues ranging from allegations from espionage to a battle with semiconductors.
China’s foreign ministry has yet to release information about Blinken’s trip, but a US official said last Friday Blinken would be in Beijing on June 18, without giving further details.
Blinken canceled a planned trip to Beijing in February because of a suspected Chinese spy balloon flying over the United States.
Visits by US officials to Taiwan, the democratically governed island Beijing considers an integral part of China, have also heightened tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
“Since the beginning of the year, China-US relations have faced new difficulties and challenges, and the responsibility is clear,” Qin told Blinken, according to the State Department reading.
The United States must “stop interfering in China’s internal affairs and stop harming China’s sovereignty, security and development interests in the name of competition,” Qin added.
(Reporting bu Beijing newsroon; Written by Bernard Orr and John Geddie; Edited by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Lincoln Feast)
