- Blinken expresses concern about China’s alignment with Moscow
- Wang warns of the dangers in US-China relations
- Neither party was detained at the meeting, a U.S. official says
NUSA DUA, Indonesia, July 9 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday he had spoken of Russian aggression in Ukraine for more than five hours in talks with the foreign minister Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and expressed concern about Beijing’s alignment with Moscow.
Both diplomats described their first face-to-face talks since October as “French”, and the meeting came a day after they attended a meeting of G20 foreign ministers on the Indonesian island of Bali. .
“I reiterated to the Minister of State that we are concerned about the alignment of the PRC with Russia,” Blinken said at a press conference after the talks, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
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He said he did not think China was behaving in a neutral way, as it had supported Russia at the United Nations and “amplified Russian propaganda.”
After the meeting, a U.S. official said “neither side is backing down.”
“We were very open about where our differences are … but the meeting was also constructive because despite the frankness, the tone was very professional,” the official said.
Blinken said Chinese President Xi Jinping had made it clear in a call with President Vladimir Putin on June 13 that he maintained the decision to form a partnership with Russia.
Shortly before the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Beijing and Moscow announced a “limitless” partnership, although U.S. officials say they have not seen China evade harsh US-led sanctions on Russia. nor provide him with military equipment.
U.S. officials have warned of the consequences, including sanctions, if China offers material support to the war, which Moscow calls a “special military operation” to degrade the Ukrainian army. Kyiv and its Western allies say the invasion is an unprovoked land grab.
‘SYNOPHOBIA’
Asked about his refusal to hold talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the G20, Blinken said: “The problem is this: we see no indication that Russia, at the moment, is ready to engage in meaningful diplomacy. “.
Wang exchanged in-depth views on the “Ukraine issue” during Saturday’s talks, according to a statement released by his ministry, without giving details.
He also told Blinken that the direction of U.S.-China relations is in danger of being further “diverted” due to a problem with the United States’ perception of China.
“A lot of people believe that the United States is suffering an increasingly serious attack of‘ synophobia, ’” Wang said. Read more
Wang also said Washington should cancel the additional tariffs imposed on China as soon as possible and end unilateral sanctions on Chinese companies.
U.S. officials had said before the talks that the meeting was aimed at keeping the difficult US-China relationship stable and preventing it from inadvertently deviating into a conflict. Read more
In late June, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said U.S. President Joe Biden and Xi of China were expected to speak again in the coming weeks. Read more
Daniel Russel, a senior US diplomat for East Asia under former President Barack Obama who has close contact with Biden administration officials, said before the talks that a key goal of the meeting would be explore the possibility of a personal meeting between Biden and Biden. Xi, the first as leaders.
The United States calls China its main strategic rival and worries that it will one day try to take over the democratic self-governing island of Taiwan.
Despite their rivalry, the world’s two largest economies remain the main trading partners, and Biden has set out to eliminate tariffs on a number of Chinese products to curb rising US inflation ahead of the US elections. mid-November term. Read more
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Report by David Brunnstrom and Stanley Widianto Additional report by Ryan Woo in Beijing Written by Ed Davies Edited by William Mallard, Christina Fincher and Helen Popper
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