Biden administration’s strategy of pursuing both confrontation and cooperation with Beijing was sure to fail, Chinese foreign vice-minister Xie Feng warned US deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman on Monday morning, setting a confrontational tone during a meeting with the US official who’s on a visit to north China’s port city of Tianjin from July 25 to 26, The New York Times reports.
“US-China relations are in a standstill and face serious difficulties,” Xie said quoted by state television.
He noted that the US is treating China as an imaginary enemy in order to reignite the sense of national purpose and blasted US government for imposing unilateral sanctions and meddling in other countries’ internal affairs, calling that practice pure coercive diplomacy.
Underscoring the anger that has been building in China toward the U, Xie called Washington’s rhetoric competitive, collaborative and adversarial and aimed to contain and suppress China after previously on Saturday warned that China would not accept the US taking a superior position in the relationship.
He urged the US to change its mindset and dangerous policy, presenting for the first time to the US a list of red lines and remedial action it must respect in future, including lifting sanctions.
Sherman, the highest-ranking US official to visit China since Biden took office, was due to meet later on Monday with Foreign Minister Wang Yi, a member of the state council. Although State Department spokesman Ned Price said last Wednesday that Sherman would be travelling to China from a position of strength, senior US officials have pointed the goal of the talks is to keep high-level communications channels open and to prevent competition between the countries from becoming conflict.
But the volley of combative comments by the Chinese foreign ministry suggested that her visit is unlikely to ease the disputes that between Beijing and Washington.
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