[ad_1]
The flags of the United States and China stand behind a microphone and await the arrival of then-US Senator John McCain for a press conference at the US Embassy in Beijing on April 9, 2009.
Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images
BEIJING – Another high-level meeting between US and Chinese officials – this time in the Chinese city of Tianjin, just outside Beijing – began with criticism.
According to an English-language press release from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, China’s Deputy Foreign Minister Xie Feng said during talks with US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on Monday that relations between the two countries “are now at a stalemate and in serious trouble.” .
“Basically, it’s because some Americans portray China as an ‘imagined enemy,'” the press release said, adding, “We are calling on the United States to change its highly misguided mindset and dangerous policies.”
However, the statement said China will continue to work with the US on condition that the leaders “change course” and maintain Chinese interests.
The US embassy in Beijing did not immediately have a comment when contacted by CNBC.
Tensions between the US and China have escalated in recent years. Former US President Donald Trump tried to counter long-term criticism of China such as unequal market access, lack of protection of intellectual property and the compulsion of companies to transfer technology in order to operate in the country with tariffs and sanctions.
Sherman is in China for a meeting with her colleagues there on Sunday and Monday.
The aim of the meeting was not a negotiation but an attempt to keep high-level communication channels open, senior State Department officials said in a briefing with reporters over the weekend.
US officials expected to meet first with Xie and then with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Leaders are expected to work towards the first meeting of Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden, which will likely take place around the G-20 summit in October.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said at a briefing Wednesday that Sherman would travel to China “from a position of strength,” similar to Foreign Secretary Antony Blinken’s meeting with his Chinese counterparts in Anchorage, Alaska.
At that meeting in March, the first high-level meeting between the two countries under Biden’s government began with an exchange of insults.
Read more about China from CNBC Pro
In the months that followed, China’s Vice Premier Liu He, who led trade negotiations during the Trump administration, spoke on the phone with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai. According to official information, these business-oriented talks were more amicable.
US tough stance on China
Not only has Biden maintained his predecessor Trump’s tough stance on China, he has criticized Beijing for alleged human rights violations and is working more closely with U.S. allies to put overall pressure on China.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will also visit Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines while Blinken is visiting India.
Both the US and China “have a lot at stake” in working towards a meeting between Biden and Xi and will seek to show that the relationship is “not completely out of hand” while appearing strong, Michael Hirson , Trainer for China and Northeast Asia at Eurasia Group, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Monday.
He said Biden was able to convince major G-7 nations to make strong statements against China but “has not yet formulated a trade strategy or other approach that would be really effective in countering China’s economic power.”
– CNBC’s Yen Nee Lee contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
