Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday that China wants the US to respect its foreign and domestic policies, drop economic sanctions, and “abandon the Cold War mentality.” Blinken told reporters that he pressed Wang over China’s refusal to sanction Russia, apparently to no avail.
Blinken and Wang met on Saturday, one day after a gathering in Indonesia of the top diplomats of the G20 nations. The meeting came at a critical point for Washington-Beijing relations, with the FBI warning this week of “pervasive” industrial espionage and cybercrime emanating from China, and with US President Joe Biden recently stating that American troops would fight any Chinese attempt to retake Taiwan – a statement his aides swiftly corrected.
“Since the US has promised that it has no intention of conflict with China, it should respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity [and] stop interfering in China’s internal affairs,” Wang told Blinken, according to a readout from the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Wang accused the US of attempting to “hollow out and distort the One China Policy,” referring to Washington’s official position that it recognizes, but does not endorse, China’s sovereignty over Taiwan.