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Photographer: Yana Paskova / Bloomberg
Photographer: Yana Paskova / Bloomberg
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for Beijing and Washington to return to dialogue, while criticizing President Donald Trump’s “America First” policies.
“U.S hope that we will expand cooperation and manage differences through dialogue, ”Wang said Friday in a video addressed to the Asia Society in New York. “It is important that U.S policies towards China return to objectivity and sustainability as soon as possible. “
His comments mark the most detailed comment on US-China relations by a Chinese government official since Joe Biden’s victory in the November 3 presidential election. They are also the latest in a series of comments by top Chinese diplomats hinting at a desire to restore relations between the world’s two largest economies as Biden prepares to take office in January.
Wang set a framework for improving ties and called on US politicians to stop criticizing the ruling Communist Party of China and respect the country’s interests in Xinjiang and Tibet, where Beijing’s policies have drawn widespread international criticism. He also pointed to climate change, economic recovery and the response to the coronavirus pandemic as potential areas for cooperation.
Wang’s comments come in the middle of a flood of anti-China measures from the Trump administration, including restricting visas for members of the Chinese Communist Party and sanctioning officials for Beijing’s radical crackdown in Hong Kong.
Addressing American business leaders last week, Wang he asked both parties to “get back on the right track.” In November, former Vice Foreign Minister Fu Ying wrote an opinion piece calling for “cooperative competition ”between the powers.
Wang offered an obscure assessment of the state of the US-China relationship at the end of the Trump administration, saying it had “spiraled to the lowest level since the establishment of diplomatic ties” more than four decades earlier.
“The approach of going alone and away from international commitments has fractured and paralyzed the international system,” he said.
He argued that many US politicians have “strategic miscalculations about China” and that there are “vast common interests” between the two countries. “China is not a threat to the U.S and it won’t be a threat to him U.S,” he said.
Wang also warned against measures that could further damage ties in the future, describing the US expansion of sanctions on Chinese companies as “unacceptable.” He said the US efforts to “reshape or subvert China” would be “mission impossible” and repeated China’s position that its policies in Tibet and Xinjiang are “internal affairs.”
Kevin Rudd, former prime minister of Australia and current president of the Asia Society Policy Institute, introduced Wang, saying that ties between the United States and China were at their lowest point in half a century. He added that the confrontation between the two countries had trapped US allies such as Japan, South Korea and Australia, “which is now in the front line of tensions in the bilateral relationship.”
Relations between Beijing and Canberra have been strained since 2018, when Australia banned Huawei Technologies Co. to build its 5G network there. They deteriorated further this year after Australia called for an international investigation into the origins of the coronavirus. China then it imposed a series of trade measures that blocked billions of dollars in Australian products.
– With the help of Jing Li and Colum Murphy
