Beijing cancels talks with DC PELOSI GIVES 'US'
The Chinese government announced on Friday it would be canceling or suspending talks with the US on issues ranging from climate change to military relations and anti-drug efforts in retaliation for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi leading a congressional delegation to Taiwan earlier in the week.
The announcement by Beijing stopped short of interrupting economic and trade talks, where it is looking to President Biden to lift tariffs imposed by Donald Trump on imports from China. But it sets back any hope for a substantial improvement in ties and raises the possibility of further misunderstandings leading to a larger crisis.
China’s Foreign Ministry said dialogue between American and Chinese regional commanders and defense department heads would be canceled, along with talks on military maritime safety. Cooperation on returning illegal immigrants, criminal investigations, transnational crime, illegal drugs and climate change will be suspended, the ministry said.
‘Common ground’?
China’s actions come ahead of a key congress of the ruling Communist Party later this year at which President Xi Jinping is expected to obtain a third five-year term as party leader. With the economy stumbling, the party has stoked nationalism and issued near-daily attacks on the government of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, which refuses to recognize Taiwan as part of China.
Beijing also announced it would be imposing largely symbolic sanctions against the speaker and her family over the Taiwan stay, which lasted about 19 hours.
Pelosi tiptoed around the issue of US-China relations Friday as she wrapped up her swing through Asia — knocking Beijing’s human rights record before insisting in the next breath that America had to “work with” its superpower rival.
“I have said it again and again: If we do not speak out for human rights in China because of commercial interests, we lose all moral authority to speak out about human rights any place in the world,” she said during a news conference at the US Embassy in Tokyo.
“We’re trying to find our common ground,” she added. “China has some contradictions, some progress in terms of lifting people up, some horrible things happening in terms of the Uyghurs. In fact, it’s been labeled a genocide.
“So, again, we have — we must work with China on issues that relate to the climate crisis, being two of the biggest emitters, and we can learn a lot from China in that regard,” she said. “But we also have to work together for some decisions.”
China said Friday that more than 100 warplanes and 10 warships have taken part in the live-fire military drills surrounding Taiwan over the past two days. The exercises, which are expected to continue through Sunday, have set the world on edge about a potential war over Taiwan and reportedly disrupted key global trading routes through the Taiwan Strait.
In response, the White House summoned Chinese Ambassador Qin Gang late Thursday to protest the military activities.