Sunday, 31 October 2021 (YJC)_ U.S. Secretary of State and Chinese Foreign Minister locked horns over Taiwan on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi locked horns over Taiwan on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit on Sunday, trading warnings against moves that could further escalate tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
In an hour-long meeting in Rome, Blinken made “crystal clear” that Washington opposes any unilateral changes by Beijing to the status quo around Taiwan, a senior State Department official said.
The United States wants to manage the intense competition between the world’s two largest economies responsibly, the State Department official said, adding that both sides acknowledged that open lines of communication are paramount.
Wang expressed China’s “solemn concern over various issues on which the U.S. side has damaged China’s legitimate rights and interests, and asked the U.S. side to change its course and promote China-U.S. relations back to the track of healthy development,” China’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Wang said it was misleading of the United States to blame China for a change in the status quo on Taiwan, saying it is U.S. “connivance” and “support” for pro-independence forces in Taiwan that are at fault, China’s statement said.
Blinken’s meeting with Wang was their first in person since a fiery exchange in Alaska in March.
Sunday’s meeting in Rome was “exceptionally candid” but productive, and will help lay the groundwork for a virtual summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this year, the U.S. official said.
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