China"s core concerns such as the Taiwan question stood out in the phone conversation on Wednesday between State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang and United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
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Also on Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry announced that, as agreed upon by Beijing and Washington, Blinken will visit China from Sunday to Monday.
Analysts noted that the phone talk took place at a time when Washington"s fresh groundless allegations against Beijing — including the hype over the so-called "Chinese spy center" in Cuba — have worsened the already frayed ties.
During the phone conversation, Qin pointed out that since the beginning of this year, China-US relations have encountered new difficulties and challenges, for which it is clear who is responsible.
China, when reviewing and handling China-US relations, has always followed the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation as put forward by President Xi Jinping, the foreign minister said.
Qin "made clear the solemn position of China on its core concerns such as the Taiwan question", according to a statement released by the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday.
Qin emphasized that the US should respect these concerns, stop interfering in China"s internal affairs and stop undermining China"s sovereignty, security and development interests in the name of competition.
China hopes that the US will take concrete actions to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state at their meeting in Bali, Indonesia, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in November last year, as well as honor its commitments, he said.
He urged the US to move toward the same goal with China, effectively manage differences, promote exchanges and cooperation, work to stop the ties from deteriorating further, and put the relations back on the track of sound and stable development.
The relations have continued to be strained amid Washington"s recent provocative words and actions regarding matters including the Taiwan Strait situation and unilateral sanctions against China.
For the US, correcting the mistakes it has made is still a predominant condition for repairing the strained ties between the top two economies in the world, officials and experts said.
"Previously, the US repeatedly called for communication in various channels with China, but at the same time, it tried to pressure China. Beijing is aware of such tricks and will never accept this pattern of behavior," said Su Xiaohui, deputy director of the Department of American Studies at the China Institute of International Studies.
The Wednesday phone talk was the latest evidence of Beijing"s firm resolve to safeguard national interest in its communication with Washington, and the talk was "testimony of China"s intention of bringing the bilateral ties back on the right track", Su said.
"Washington should stop speaking from a position of strength, and both sides should be on equal footing," she added.
Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng said last week that "the Chinese side is open to dialogue, but dialogue and cooperation must be based on mutual respect and results-oriented".
"It is not the right way to seek dialogue and cooperation while putting the other on the sanctions list," he said at a welcoming event hosted by the US-China Business Council.
