U.S. envoy urges China to return to consultations

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that China should not hold hostage talks on important global matters such as the climate crisis, after Beijing cut off contacts with Washington in retaliation for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last week.

Blinken spoke in an online news conference with his Philippine counterpart in Manila after meeting newly elected President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and other top officials, as relations between Washington and Beijing plummeted to their worst level in years.

Pelosi’s trip to the self-governed island outraged China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory to be annexed by force if necessary. China on Thursday began military exercises off Taiwan’s coasts and on Friday cut off contacts with the U.S. on vital issues, including military matters and climate cooperation, as punishments against Pelosi’s visit.

“We should not hold hostage cooperation on matters of global concern because of differences between our two countries,” Blinken said. “Others are rightly expecting us to continue to work on issues that matter to the lives and livelihood of their people as well as our own.”

He cited cooperation on climate change as a key area where China shut down contact that “doesn’t punish the United States — it punishes the world.”

Taiwan authorities said Saturday that China’s military drills appear to simulate an attack on the self-ruled island, after multiple Chinese warships and aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait. The exercises are expected to last until Sunday.