The Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, had a meeting on Sunday in Rome with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in which he conveyed his concerns for human rights, in times of tension between the two powers, the White House reported.
Blinken voiced opposition to China’s actions that go “against” US interests and values, “including actions related to human rights, Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong, the East and South China Seas and Taiwan,” he said. in a statement the spokesman for the State Department, Ned Price.
The Secretary of State also highlighted the areas in which, he said, the common interests of both powers converge, such as “North Korea, Burma, Iran, Afghanistan and the climate crisis.”
In addition, Blinken “has highlighted the importance of keeping the lines of communication open to responsibly manage competition between the United States and the People’s Republic of China.”
The meeting was held in the Italian capital, where both diplomats are attending the G20 summit.
This was the second meeting between Blinken and Wang after the stormy meeting in Alaska in March, where the Chinese delegation reprimanded the American in front of television cameras.
Tensions are high between the world’s two largest economies on many fronts, including trade, human rights, Taiwan, and the covid-19 pandemic.
For that reason, “Secretary Blinken underscored the importance of keeping the lines of communication open to responsibly manage competition between the United States and the People’s Republic of China,” the statement said.
Earlier this week, Washington ordered China Telecom Americas to discontinue its services within 60 days, ending nearly two decades of operations in the country and increasing tension in relations between the two countries.
US President Joe Biden has forged ahead with a hard-line trade policy against Beijing, in line with that of his predecessor, Donald Trump, whose approach caused tensions to escalate.
Taiwan is one of the issues that generates the most conflict in the bilateral relations between the two powers, since the island denounces with the support of Washington the constant overflights of Chinese military planes in Taiwanese airspace. Beijing considers Taiwan as part of its territory even though it has been ‘de facto’ independent since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1959.
China claims that the autonomous island, an ally of the United States, is its own and promises that it will take it back one day, by force if necessary. And earlier this month, Washington confirmed that a small number of US troops are on the island to assist with training efforts.
On Tuesday, Blinken called for Taiwan to be allowed greater involvement in UN agencies, though Beijing insisted it has no place on the world diplomatic stage.
Biden has also rebuked Beijing for its threats about Taiwan. This month he said the United States was ready to defend the island from a Chinese invasion, though the White House was quick to dismiss those comments amid warnings from Beijing, continuing a strategy of ambiguity over whether it would intervene militarily if China attacked.
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