Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with his Chinese counterpart Friday, the first conversation between the two diplomats amid an adjustment in the relationship between Washington and Beijing.
Blinken had a phone call with Chinese Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi to extend his best wishes for a happy lunar new year, according to a readout of the call from the State Department. The secretary of State pushed Yang on reports of human rights abuses against Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang and the crackdown of civil rights in Tibet and Hong Kong, among other security-related issues.
“Secretary Blinken stressed the United States will continue to stand up for human rights and democratic values, including in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong, and pressed China to join the international community in condemning the military coup in Burma,” the State Department said.
“The Secretary reaffirmed that the United States will work together with its allies and partners in defense of our shared values and interests to hold the [People's Republic of China] accountable for its efforts to threaten stability in the Indo-Pacific, including across the Taiwan Strait, and its undermining of the rules-based international system,” it added.
The conversation comes at a time of uncertainty in the relationship between the U.S. and China in the new Biden administration.
President Biden has adopted a tough stance on China over its crackdown on human rights and violence against the Uighurs, as well as its economic pressure on the U.S.
“American leadership must meet this new moment of advancing authoritarianism, including the growing ambitions of China to rival the United States,” Biden said this week at the State Department. “We'll confront China's economic abuses; counter its aggressive, coercive action; to push back on China's attack on human rights, intellectual property, and global governance.”
Biden is also reviewing his predecessor’s decision to designate China’s oppression of its minority Muslim Uighurs as genocide, though that review is being conducted to ensure procedures were followed, not to dispute the severity of the crackdown.
However, Biden has also expressed openness to working with China on climate change.
The interests of Washington and Beijing are intersecting in Myanmar, where a military coup is underway against a nascent democratic government. Biden is leaning on the military to stand down, but experts say he may be wary of applying too much pressure for fear of pushing the country further into China’s arms.
-----------------------update-------------------------
(Adds China foreign ministry statement)
WASHINGTON, Feb 5 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State AntonyBlinken told top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi in a phone call onFriday the United States will stand up for human rights anddemocratic values in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, the StateDepartment said.
Blinken also pressed China to condemn the military coup inMyanmar, and he reaffirmed that Washington will work with alliesto hold China accountable for efforts to threaten stability ofIndo-Pacific, including across the Taiwan Strait, the departmentsaid in a statement.
Yang told Blinken that the United States should "correct"its recent mistakes and that both sides must respect eachother's political systems and development paths, according to astatement from the Chinese foreign ministry.
The relationship between the world's two biggest economieshit its lowest point in decades during the presidency of DonaldTrump, and Chinese officials have expressed cautious optimismthat it would improve under the administration of Joe Biden.
Yang told an online forum on Tuesday that he hoped relationsbetween the two countries could return to a predictable andconstructive track, but he called on the United States to "stopinterfering" on issues of Chinese sovereignty, includingXinjiang, Hong Kong and Tibet.
Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin also said on Fridaythat "the common interests of the two countries outweighed theirdifferences" and urged the United States to "meet China halfway"to improve relations.
However, criticism of China's human rights record hascontinued unabated, with the State Department saying on Thursdaythat it was "deeply disturbed" by reports of sexual abuseagainst women in internment camps for ethnic Uighurs and otherMuslims in Xinjiang..
Biden himself has shown little sign he is in a hurry toengage with Beijing, describing China on Thursday as "our mostserious competitor" and saying Washington would continue toconfront what he described as China's "attack on human rights,intellectual property and global governance".
"But we're ready to work with Beijing, when it's inAmerica's interest to do so," he added.
The Global Times, a tabloid run by Chinese Communist Partypaper the People's Daily, said in an editorial on Saturday thatit expected the Biden administration to keep talking tough whileimproving cooperation in some areas.
"This is obviously different from the later period ofTrump's administration, which had only hyped up antagonismbetween China and the U.S.," it said.(Reporting by Eric Beech and David Brunnstrom; Additionalreporting by David Stanway in Shanghai; Editing by Kim Coghilland Stephen Coates)
No comments:
Post a Comment