BEIJING (Reuters) – Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi said on Monday that the US and China could work together on issues such as climate change and the coronavirus epidemic if they repair their weak bilateral relations.
Government advisor and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang said Beijing is set to reopen constructive dialogue with Washington after decades of deterioration of relations between the two countries under former President Donald Trump.
Wang called on Washington to remove tariffs on Chinese products and an irrational suppression of the Chinese technology sector, which would create “necessary conditions” for cooperation.
Prior to Wang speaking on a platform sponsored by Chancery, officials displayed images of the “ping-pong diplomacy” of 1972, when an exchange of table tennis players led the then-president Richard Nixon’s move to China.
Wang urged Washington to respect China’s central interests, to “discredit” the Communist Party, to intervene in Beijing’s internal affairs, and to prevent “interruption” with separatist forces in favor of Taiwan’s independence.
“Over the years, the United States has radically cut bilateral talks at all levels,” Wang said in comments translated into English.
“We are ready for frank communication with the American side and engage in dialogue aimed at solving problems.”
Wang recently highlighted the phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden as a positive step.
Washington and Beijing collide on several fronts, such as trade, allegations of human rights crimes against Uygar Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region and Chinese territorial claims in the resource-rich South China Sea.
However, the Biden government has indicated that it will keep pressure on Beijing.
Biden expressed concern about China’s “coercive and unfair” commercial practices and supported a determination by the Trump administration that the Asian country had committed genocide in Xinjiang.
But he has also promised to adopt a more multilateral approach and is willing to cooperate with Beijing on issues such as climate change and persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.
(By Gabriel Crossley)
