China calls on US to adopt sincere approach to bilateral relations

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged the United States on Friday to take seriously China's legitimate concerns and stop suppressing China's development, saying that Washington's "old routine of unilateral bullying" did not and will not work for China.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks as he spoke by phone with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

He said that the US should work with China to transform the consensus reached by the two heads of state during their meeting in Bali, Indonesia, last month into practical policy and concrete actions.

The US should not attempt to suppress China while seeking dialogue with it, and cooperate with China while stabbing it in the back, Wang said.

The phone conversation came following the meeting between President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden in Bali on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia. During the meeting, the two presidents agreed to take action to bring bilateral ties back on the right track.

Earlier this month, Vice-Foreign Minister Xie Feng held talks with a high-level visiting US delegation in Langfang, Hebei province, to follow through on the common understandings between the two heads of state.

Wang described the meeting as "in-depth and constructive", and he urged greater efforts to advance consultations on the principles guiding China-US relations, push for dialogue in various fields at all levels in an orderly manner and solve specific problems between the two countries through joint working groups.

Wang reiterated that China will continue to firmly safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests, urging the US to abandon the zero-sum mentality, which, he said, will only lead the two major countries to confront each other.

The two countries need to find out the right way for them to get along with each other, thus making contributions for the benefit of both peoples and for the peace and stability of the world, he said.

Blinken said the US stands ready to work with China to work out a guiding principle for bilateral ties, manage their relations in a responsible way, and carry out cooperation in areas of shared interests.

The US will continue to follow the one-China policy and will not support "Taiwan independence", he said.

Blinken commended China's leadership as the presidency of the 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, saying that his country expects to jointly implement the framework adopted at the COP15 with China.

They also exchanged views on the Ukraine issue. Wang said China always stands on the side of peace and the principles of the United Nations Charter. China will continue to play a constructive role in its own way in resolving the crisis, he said.

On Thursday, when meeting with John L Thornton, co-chair of the Board of Trustees of the Asia Society in Beijing, Wang said that China is open to dialogue with the US at all levels.

US businesses and strategic and academic professionals are welcome to come to China for more face-to-face exchanges to enhance mutual understanding between the two countries, he said.