Taiwan question is ‘biggest risk’ to US-China relations, must be brought ‘under control’, Beijing’s top envoy to US says
- Ambassador Xie Feng made the remarks to American business leaders, adding China has ‘always been open to dialogue’
- Comments come after sanctioned Chinese defence minister Li Shangfu rejected meeting with US defence chief Lloyd Austin in Singapore last week
The “pressing” task of preventing strained China-US relations from sliding into conflict is to bring the issue of Taiwan, “the biggest risk”, under control, Beijing’s top envoy to Washington said on Wednesday.
Amid growing optimism for a rescheduled, long-awaited visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the Chinese capital, Xie Feng, China’s new ambassador, made the remarks during an address to a group of US business leaders.
“The Chinese side has always been open to dialogue,” Xie said.
China and the United States are at a “crossroads” between allowing their bilateral relationship spiral downward further into confrontation and finding the right way to get along, Xie said in his speech to the US-China Business Council.
He called on US authorities to respect China’s core interests and major concerns, stressing that those were essential for the two countries to move in “the right direction, with no conflict, no confrontation and no new cold war”, according to a readout of the address from the Chinese embassy.
“A pressing task is to bring the Taiwan question, the biggest risk, under control,” Xie said.
“No one wants peaceful reunification more than China does. We are also the last that wants tensions or warfare across the Taiwan Strait.”
