China and US officials stress need to stabilise relations

China’s foreign minister, Qin Gang, said yesterday it was imperative to stabilise Sino-US relations after a series of “erroneous words and deeds” threw ties back into a deep freeze.

Qin, in a meeting in Beijing with US ambassador Nicholas Burns, stressed in particular that the US must correct its handling of the Taiwan issue and stop the hollowing out of the “one-China” principle.

The relationship between the world’s two biggest economies sank to a low last year when then House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi paid an official visit to Taiwan, angering China, which claims the island as its territory.

In response, Beijing severed formal communications channels with the US including one between their militaries.

“The top priority is to stabilise Sino-US relations, avoid a downward spiral and prevent any accidents between China and the US,” Qin told Burns, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement.

The tension between the two superpowers had eased in November when US and China leaders Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met at a G20 summit in Indonesia and pledged more frequent dialogue.

But tensions flared again in February when a Chinese highaltitude balloon appeared in US airspace and in response US Secretary of State Antony Blinken cancelled a visit to Beijing.

“A series of erroneous words and deeds by the US since then have undermined the hardwon positive momentum of Sino-US relations,” Qin said.

“The agenda of dialogue and co-operation agreed by the two sides has been disrupted, and the relationship between the two countries has once again encountered cold ice.”

Burns, in a post on Twitter about his talks with Qin, also spoke of the need to bring stability to the relationship.

“We discussed challenges in the US-China relationship and the necessity of stabilising ties and expanding high-level communication,” Burns said.

Last week, Blinken appeared to offer hope of a visit, telling the Washington Post that it was important to re-establish regular lines of communication at all levels.

Also last week, US climate envoy John Kerry said China had invited him to visit “in the near term” for talks on averting a global climate crisis, further raising hope of resetting one of the world’s most important state-to-state relationships.

Taiwan remains the thorniest issue in Sino-US ties.

Last month, China staged war games around Taiwan after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met US House speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles.

Since 1979, the US-Taiwan relationship has been governed by the Taiwan Relations Act, which gives a legal basis to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, but does not mandate that the US come to Taiwan’s aid if attacked.

As a part of the 2023 budget, the US Congress has authorised up to $1bn (R18.3bn) worth of weapons aid for Taiwan using a type of authority that expedites security assistance and has helped to deliver arms to Ukraine.

● The EU had proposed sanctions on Chinese companies accused of selling equipment that could be used in weapons to support Russia, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

Seven Chinese businesses had been listed in a new package of sanctions that would be discussed by EU member states this week, the report said, citing a copy of the sanctions list seen by the FT.

According to the FT, the sanctions list includes two mainland Chinese companies, 3HC Semiconductors and KingPai Technology, along with five from Hong Kong including Sinno Electronics, Sigma Technology, Asia Pacific Links, Tordan Industry and Alpha Trading Investments.

Yesterday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said China urged the EU to avoid taking the “wrong path”, otherwise it would take firm action to safeguard its rights and interests.

“China opposes actions that use China-Russia co-operation as a pretext to impose illegal sanctions or long-arm jurisdiction against China,” Wang said at a regular news conference.

Some companies like KingPai Technology have already been placed under sanctions by the US, which said it was a supplier for entities in Russia’s military-industrial complex.

Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine 14 months ago, the EU has adopted 10 sanctions packages against Russian individuals and companies, inflicting economic hardship and making financing the war more difficult. —