“The Deputy Secretary underscored that the United States welcomes the stiff competition between our countries — and that we intend to continue to strengthen our own competitive hand — but that we do not seek conflict with the PRC,” the State Department said in a statement.
Under President Joe Biden, the U.S. has increased its criticism of Beijing over alleged human rights abuses in regions such as Xinjiang and Hong Kong. Beijing considers those matters as “internal affairs.”
On Monday, Xie claimed that in contrast to such “interference,” “China has never coerced any country.”
“The comments sit awkwardly with China’s existing diplomatic disputes,” Nick Marro, global trade leader at The Economist Intelligence Unit, said in an email, pointing to disagreements with India and Australia, among others.
“The US is paying very close attention to all of these different hot spots, partially to capitalise on any opportunities whereby frustration with China drives third countries more into alignment with the US,” Marro said. “As a result, it’s unlikely that the Chinese vice foreign minister’s comments are going to be well received by the US delegation, much less prompt a rethink in Biden’s wider strategy towards Asia.”
Sherman has been in China for a meeting with her counterparts Sunday and Monday.
The goal of the meetings was not a negotiation, but an effort to keep high-level communication channels open, senior State Department officials said in a briefing with reporters over the weekend.
The U.S. officials expected to meet with Xie first, and then Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
The leaders are expected to work toward the first meeting of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Biden, likely around the G-20 summit in October.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said at a briefing Wednesday that Sherman would travel to China “from a position of strength,” similar to Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s meeting with his Chinese counterparts in Anchorage, Alaska.
That gathering in March, the first high-level meeting between the two countries under Biden’s administration, kicked off with an exchange of insults.
Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/26/us-china-tianjin-meeting-wendy-sherman-xie-feng-wang-yi.html