China’s foreign minister Wang Yi warned the US to approach Taiwan affairs with “utmost caution” in a call with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, calling for Washington to expand cooperation and manage risks with Beijing.
According to Chinese state news agency Xinhua, the two top diplomats held a “positive and constructive” phone call on Tuesday. It is the first reported cabinet-level communication since US President Donald Trump’s landmark visit to China in mid-May.
During that visit, the two rival powers agreed on a “new vision of building a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability”.
Wang told Rubio on Tuesday that having constructive and strategically stable ties was in the interests of the two countries and the international community, adding that both countries should “remove interference, overcome obstacles, and stay firmly on this correct path”.
Building such a relationship “is not just a slogan” and it “requires action, moving towards each other and persistent efforts”, he said.
“To that end, both sides should lengthen the list of cooperation, create more positive agendas, while also shortening the list of problems and managing various risks and hidden dangers.
“The Taiwan issue has far-reaching implications; we hope the US will treat Taiwan-related affairs with utmost caution.”
Beijing views Taiwan as part of China to be reunified, by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state but Washington opposes any attempt to take the self-ruled island by force and is committed to providing it with weapons.
The Tuesday call comes weeks after Trump’s closely watched summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Xi firmly raised the issue of Taiwan during his sit-down with Trump, warning that any mishandling of the issue could lead to conflict and push relations into an “extremely dangerous situation”.
The call also comes as Washington and Beijing prepare for a potential trip by Xi to the US. Trump earlier said the Chinese leader would visit the White House in September.
Washington has framed the May summit as a victory that brought historic deals for Americans, publishing a fact sheet stating that Beijing would address US concerns about supply chain shortages of rare earths and other critical minerals, a key point of friction between the two countries.
But even as ties between the world’s two largest economies appear to have largely stabilised since the summit, there have been some recent signs of strain.
Last month, the Pentagon added Alibaba, BYD, Baidu and dozens of other Chinese companies to its list of entities it says are linked to China’s military.
Beijing retaliated by adding 10 American firms to its export control list, including two rare earth companies. SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
