Chinese readout of Wang Yi-Anthony Blinken meeting

"choices need to be made between dialogue or confrontation, cooperation or conflict"

The Chinese readout of Wang Yi’s meeting with Anthony Blinken via Xinhua News Agency

On June 19, Chinese Communist Party Central Committee Politburo Member and Director of the Central Foreign Affairs Office, Wang Yi, met with the U.S. Secretary of State in Beijing.

Wang Yi stated that Mr. Secretary's visit to Beijing comes at a crucial juncture in U.S.-China relations, where choices need to be made between dialogue or confrontation, cooperation or conflict. History always moves forward, and China-U.S. relations will ultimately move forward as well. Going backward in history leads to no way out, and scraping it and starting over is even less desirable. We need to take a responsible attitude toward our people, history, and the world, reverse the downward spiral of China-U.S. relations, and work together to find the right way for China and the U.S. to coexist in the New Era.

Wang Yi emphasized that the root cause of the current downturn in China-U.S. relations lies in the U.S. side's erroneous understanding of China, which has resulted in misguided policies toward China. Given the twists and turns in China-U.S. relations, it is necessary for the U.S. side to deeply reflect and, together with China, manage differences and avoid strategic accidents. The priority is to stabilize China-US relations and truly implement the consensus reached between the leaders of the two countries. To ensure long-term stability in China-U.S. relations, the most important thing is to take President Xi Jinping's principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation as the fundamental guiding principles.

Wang Yi provided an in-depth explanation of the historical logic and inevitable trends of China's development and revitalization, as well as the distinctive characteristics of the Chinese path to modernization and the rich connotations of the whole-process democracy of the people. He urged the U.S. side not to mirror China with the template of a hegemonic power, and not to misjudge China based on the trajectory followed by traditional Western powers. This is the key to whether the U.S. policy toward China can truly return to objectivity and rationality.

Wang Yi asked that the U.S. side stop hyping up the "China threat theory," lift its illegal unilateral sanctions against China, abandon the suppression of China's technological development, and refrain from interfering in China's internal affairs at will. Wang Yi provided a detailed analysis of the essence of the Taiwan question, emphasizing that safeguarding national unity is always the core of China's core interests, and it is related to the destiny of all Chinese people and the unwavering historical mission of the Communist Party of China. On this issue, China has no room for any compromise or concession. The U.S. side must truly adhere to the One-China principle as defined in the three joint communiques between China and the U.S., respect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and explicitly oppose "Taiwan independence."

Blinken presented the U.S. perspective, expressing the U.S. commitment to returning to the agenda established at the bilateral meeting between the leaders of the two countries in Bali. He expressed the expectation of strengthening communication and responsible management of differences with China, as well as the pursuit of cooperation in areas of common interest.

The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of mutual concern.

It appears that the U.S. State Department has yet to publish a readout.

From last night (June 18):