Washington is looking to improve ties with Beijing “more desperately,” said Chinese state media on Sunday, in response to a visit by a high-level US delegation to the country.
A report by state-run newspaper Global Times said the US “should keep its promises on sensitive topics like the Taiwan question and stop hostile containment approaches against China,” if it “really wants to manage the competition and boost cooperation.”
“Otherwise the US will not get what it wants,” the report added, citing Chinese analysts.
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The Chinese response follows talks between a high-level delegation China’s Vice foreign minister on Sunday and Monday in Langfang, a city neighbouring Beijing.
The visit aimed to follow up on US President Joe Biden’s recent talks with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and prepare for Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit there early next year, the US State Department said on Saturday.
At the talks in Langfang, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs Daniel J Kritenbrink and Senior Director for China Affairs of the White House National Security Council, Laura Rosenberger, and Vice foreign minister Xie Feng had an “extensive exchange” of views on international and regional issues of common concern, ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular briefing in Beijing.
“The talks were frank, in-depth and constructive,” Wang said.
The relatively upbeat note about the talks contrasted sharply with what Wang said at the same news conference about the United States’ imposition of sanctions on two Chinese officials over alleged human rights abuses in Tibet.
Stabilising relations
White House Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell said earlier that China wants stabilised relations with the US in the short term as it faces domestic economic challenges and pushback in Asia to its assertive diplomacy.
The US delegation’s visit comes at a time when the world’s two largest economies are engaged in a chip war that is threatening to set back China’s rapidly growing technology sector.
It follows blunt talks between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping over Taiwan and North Korea on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia in mid-November. That was the two leaders’ first meeting since 2017, aimed at preventing strained US-China ties from spilling into a new Cold War.
The State Department said the delegation will follow up on the meeting “to continue responsibly managing the competition between our two countries and to explore potential areas of cooperation.”
- Vishakha Saxena, with inputs from Reuters
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