Senior diplomat says bilateral relations should be based on working together
The United States does not have the qualification to be "condescending" when speaking to China as the Chinese people will never accept this, and the US should work together with China and avoid confrontation, senior diplomat Yang Jiechi said.
Mutual respect is a basis for dealing with China, said Yang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, at the bilateral high-level strategic dialogue in Anchorage, Alaska, on Thursday (local time).
The opening of the dialogue, covered by media from the two countries, witnessed a rare exchange of harsh remarks between the two sides.
Beijing's top diplomat Yang Jiechi was bluntly sharp and unambiguous in his first vis-à-vis with senior US officials on Thursday: Don't speak to China in a condescending way, or seek to strangle the Chinese people, but work together and avoid confrontation.
Yang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and director of the committee's Office of Foreign Affairs Commission, along with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, met top US diplomat Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan for the first time in the Biden presidency.
Yang said at the start of his opening remarks that he hoped the dialogue will be a sincere and candid one, as it is a follow-up on the common understanding of the two presidents reached during their phone conversation about a month ago, and people hope to see practical outcomes from the dialogue.
The dialogue was scheduled to have three rounds of talks through Friday following a supposed brief opening session shortly after Thursday noon.
