The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, met this Sunday in Rome with the Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, to whom he transferred Washington’s “concern” about Chinese actions “contrary to our values and interests.” while the Chinese diplomat has once again reproached the United States for its support for Taiwan and asked Washington to commit itself to the unifying policy of Beijing.
In his turn to speak, Blinken ” has raised concerns about a series of actions by China that undermine the international order and its norms and that are contrary to our values and interests and those of our allies and partners,” according to the spokesman. from the State Department, Ned Price, through an official statement.
Specifically, he mentioned as examples the Chinese policy on Human Rights, the Chinese regions of Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong, the East and South China Seas and, above all, Taiwan.
Instead, Blinken has stressed that there are “areas where our interests intersect and where we can collaborate, such as North Korea, Burma, Iran, Afghanistan and the climate crisis.” In addition, Blinken “has stressed 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 Chinese public television, CCTV has published images of the meeting and of both posing together without touching despite the fact that both have greeted other diplomats from third countries with a shoulder bump. The meeting ended with a closer, relaxed non-verbal language, with both slapping each other on the arm in goodbye.
However, and according to comments collected by the Chinese portal ‘Global Times’, Wang openly expressed his disappointment at the lack of commitment from the US. “We want the United States to keep its word, to be genuinely involved with the one-China principle and not to say one thing and then do the other,” said the minister.
Comprehensive impact on relations between the two countries
Likewise, the minister has lamented the accusations to China as a disruptor in the security of the Taiwan Strait with its air raids. “It is a totally false statement and a serious deception to the international community,” said the minister.
“The ‘crux’ of the current situation in the Taiwan Strait is that the Taiwanese authorities have repeatedly tried to break the ‘one China’ framework, and the United States is to blame for its collusion and support of the secessionist forces,” Wang has lamented.
For the minister, this crisis has caused a “comprehensive impact” on relations between the two countries due to an “incorrect and arbitrary interference” US policy by the United States, to the point of “putting pressure on many small and medium-sized countries to repress China”.
However, the minister also expressed his desire to continue “in a timely and frank exchange of views with the United States” to “improve understanding , eliminate doubts, avoid miscalculations and explore cooperation.”
Taiwan is one of the issues that generates the most conflict in the bilateral relations between the two powers, since the island with the support of Washington denounces 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.
