This combination of pictures created on June 13, 2023 shows (L)US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at a Chiefs of Mission reception in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on June 13, 2023, and (R) China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang waves after a press conference at the Media Center of the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing on March 7, 2023.. China's foreign minister Qin Gang told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday that relations between the two countries were facing "new difficulties and challenges", Beijing said. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS and NOEL CELIS / AFP)
Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang urged the United States to stop meddling in its affairs and harming its security in a phone call with his US counterpart, a tense preview to Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing expected in coming days.
Qin yesterday told Blinken to respect China’s core concerns, such as the Taiwan issue, in an effort to arrest declining relations between the superpowers, according to China’s foreign ministry.
Blinken, meanwhile, stressed the need for communication “to avoid miscalculation and conflict” and said the United States would continue to raise areas of concern as well as potential cooperation with China, the State Department said in a brief summary of the call yesterday.
If Blinken’s trip goes ahead, it will be the first visit to China by Washington’s top diplomat in five years and the highest profile visit of US President Joe Biden’s administration, which has clashed with Beijing over issues ranging from spy allegations to a semiconductor tussle.
The Chinese foreign ministry has yet to reveal information on Blinken’s trip, but a US official last Friday said Blinken would be in Beijing on June 18, giving no other details.
Blinken cancelled a planned trip to Beijing in February over a suspected Chinese spy balloon that flew over the United States.
Visits by US officials to Taiwan, the democratically governed island that Beijing considers an integral part of China, have also magnified tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
The two sides have more recently looked again to keep tensions in check, including with an extensive, closed-door meeting between Biden’s national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, and senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi in Vienna last month.
Biden has sought limited areas for cooperation with China, such as climate change, in contrast with the more fully adversarial position adopted at the end of the administration of his predecessor Donald Trump.
But two countries remain at deeply at odds over many issues.
“Since the beginning of the year, Sino-US relations have encountered new difficulties and challenges, and the responsibility is clear,” Qin told Blinken, according to the foreign ministry’s readout.
The United States should “stop interfering in China’s internal affairs, and stop harming China’s sovereignty, security and development interests in the name of competition,” Qin added. —Agencies
