The US should not approach Beijing from a “position of strength,” according to Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who also emphasized that the US has no authority to interfere in how the Taiwan problem is settled.
On Friday, at a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Wang conveyed the messages to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Tensions regarding Taiwan and Ukraine were a major topic of discussion during their meetings, and Wang urged the United States to “learn a lesson” from the worsening of ties between China and the United States.
“The two sides knew that they were dealing with countries with different systems from the very first day of their contact,” Wang said in a statement from the Foreign Ministry.
“This did not prevent the two sides from cooperating based on common interests, nor should it be a reason for confrontation between China and the United States.
“It is hoped that the US will correct its perception of China, reflect on and change its China policy that stresses containment, and stop trying to deal with the Chinese from its position of strength.”
Blinken said in March of last year that one way the US would deal with China was from a “position of strength.” He said that the US would collaborate with its allies and take a stand for its values when competing with Beijing.
Beijing has expressed its displeasure with that strategy, with Yang Jiechi, China’s top diplomat, criticizing the US for approaching China in a “condescending way from a position of strength” during a meeting with Blinken and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in Alaska in March of last year, which Wang also attended.
After a lengthy discussion in July on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers meeting, Wang and Blinken announced their intention to strengthen ties between their respective countries.
But when Nancy Pelosi went to Taiwan at the beginning of August, things got worse. Beijing imposed sanctions on Pelosi and increased military exercises all around the island as a result of the visit, viewing it as support for the Taiwanese government’s pro-independence program.
Wang said on Friday, “The Taiwan issue is China’s internal affair, and the US has no right to intervene in how it is resolved.”
Wang said that the Taiwan issue was the most important thing to China.
He said that the US was trying to “undermine China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and obstruct China’s great cause of peaceful reunification,” saying that “safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity is our mission, and that is never ambiguous.”
According to Wang, US policy toward Taiwan was sending “very wrong, dangerous signals,” and the more furious Taiwanese independence activity evolved, the less chance there was of a peaceful resolution.
US sources said Blinken urged China to stop harassing Taiwan.
Blinken reaffirmed to Wang the US administration’s commitment to “maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” according to State Department spokesman Ned Price.
Next week, US Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Japan and South Korea. She is scheduled to meet with the leaders of both nations to address the situation in the Taiwan Strait.
A senior US administration official stated at a background briefing on Friday that “obviously, Japan and the Republic of Korea have a lot at stake in Taiwan and the region.”
Blinken and Wang also spoke about the situation in Ukraine. Price said that Blinken “highlighted the implications” if the People’s Republic of China helped “Moscow’s invasion of a sovereign state.”
Both sides agreed to keep talking, and the Foreign Ministry said the talks were “candid, constructive, and important.” This is diplomatic language for saying that a lot of differences were talked about.
Joe Biden has not personally seen President Xi Jinping since taking office as US President in January of last year, despite their five phone conversations.
Biden has said that if they both go to the G20 meeting in Indonesia in November, he and Xi could meet.
Image Credit: Xinhua
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