Riyaz ul Khaliq
January 27, 2022•Update: January 27, 2022
ISTANBUL
Top diplomats of the US and China discussed the rising tensions between Ukraine and Russia, emphasizing the need for steps to defuse the increasingly volatile situation.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken underscored in his conversation with China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi the “global security and economic risks posed by further Russian aggression against Ukraine,” the US State Department said in a brief statement.
“De-escalation and diplomacy are the responsible way forward,” Blinken added.
The two also discussed “how to advance work together” following the virtual meeting between US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in November last year.
‘Security of one country cannot be at the expense of others’
According to China’s Foreign Ministry, Wang told Blinken that the “Cold War mentality” needs to be abandoned.
“To solve the Ukrainian issue, it is still necessary to return to the original point of the New Minsk Agreement … it is a fundamental political document recognized by all parties and should be effectively implemented,” he said.
He called for “all parties to remain calm and refrain from doing things that stimulate tension and hype up the crisis.”
“The security of one country cannot be at the expense of the security of other countries, and regional security cannot be guaranteed by strengthening or even expanding military blocs,” Wang asserted.
He urged Blinken to “form a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism through negotiations, and Russia’s reasonable security concerns should be taken seriously and resolved.”
‘No change in US policy on China’
The two officials also spoke about bilateral tensions between two of the world’s biggest economic powers.
Wang rued that talks between Xi and Biden did not bring about any significant change in Washington’s policy on China.
Implementing “the important consensus reached” between the leaders is a “most important task” for the two sides, he stressed.
Wang recalled that Xi told his US counterpart that the three principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation are imperative “for the healthy development of China-US relations.”
“But what the world sees is that the tone of the US policy toward China has not changed substantially, and President Biden’s remarks have not been put into practice,” he said.
“The US continues to make mistakes in China-related words and deeds, causing new shocks to the relationship between the two countries.”
Wang emphasized that “pressure will only make the Chinese people more united, and confrontation cannot prevent China from becoming stronger.”
“The top priority at the moment is that the US should stop interfering with the Beijing Winter Olympics, stop playing cards with fire on the Taiwan issue, and stop creating various anti-China ‘small circles’,” Wang told Blinken.
