China to the United States: Stop demonizing us

The highest representative of President Joe Biden’s government to date, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, is in China and has met his counterpart, Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng, and his boss, Wang Yi.

The tense relations between the two countries appeared to be evident during the talks held in the port city of Tianjin, southeast of Beijing. The meeting place already testifies to the tensions. The Chinese have indicated the rules of the epidemic when representatives of the United States are not invited to the capital, but the Americans see it as a negative sign. Climate envoy John Kerry was also not allowed in Beijing when he visited China in April.

“Under closed doors — just as we have done publicly — the deputy secretary of state has raised concerns about a number of actions taken by China that are inconsistent with our values, those of our allies, and our values ​​and interests, and that undermine the international legal order,” the US State Department said in a statement to Reuters.

Among the issues mentioned is China’s reluctance to investigate the World Health Organization into the origin of the Covid pandemic in the country.

feel dirty

The Chinese Foreign Ministry responds by saying that the United States feels the country has been tainted.

“We urge the United States to change its highly misguided stance and dangerous policies,” Xie was quoted by Beijing media as telling Sherman.

Xie said the US government perceives China as its enemy.

The hope may be that the United States, by demonizing China, can somehow blame its own structural problems on China, as was said during the meeting.

According to Chinese media, China has made several calls. Among other things, the country has demanded that the United States remove visa restrictions for Chinese students and members of the Communist Party, according to the state-run Chinese news site.

Biden and what?

Xie Feng stated that China has come up with a list of measures, including lifting sanctions against Chinese leaders, officials and government agencies.

Sherman arrived in Tianjin on Sunday, and on Monday met first with Xie Feng and then Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

The hope is that the easing of the atmosphere of talks will lead to higher-level meetings – in this case first between Wang and his US counterpart Anthony Blinken, then also a summit between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping.

A particular occasion for the latter will be the G-20 summit in Rome at the end of October.