China Warns US to Stop Interfering in Call Ahead of Blinken Trip

The rocky and delicate state of Sino-US relations were evident this week in a phone call by China’s foreign minister Qin Gang to his US counterpart Antony Blinken.

Qin urged the United States to stop meddling in its affairs and harming its security in the call on Wednesday to Blinken, who is expected to visit Beijing in coming days.

Qin told Blinken to respect China’s core concerns, such as the Taiwan issue, in an effort to arrest declining ties between the superpowers, according to China’s foreign ministry.

Blinken stressed the need for communication “to avoid miscalculation and conflict” and said the US would continue to raise areas of concern as well as potential cooperation with China, the State Department said in a brief summary of the call.

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If Blinken’s trip goes ahead, it will be the first visit to China by Washington’s top diplomat in five years and the highest profile visit of US President Joe Biden’s administration, which has clashed with Beijing over issues ranging from spying allegations to a conflict over China getting access to advanced semiconductors.

The Chinese foreign ministry has yet to reveal information on Blinken’s trip, but a US official said last Friday that Blinken would be in Beijing on June 18, without giving any other details.

Blinken cancelled a planned trip to Beijing in February over a suspected Chinese spy balloon that flew over the US mainland.

Visits by US officials to Taiwan, the democratically governed island that Beijing considers an integral part of China, have also magnified tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

“Since the beginning of the year, Sino-US relations have encountered new difficulties and challenges, and the responsibility is clear,” Qin told Blinken, according to the foreign ministry’s readout.

The United States should “stop interfering in China’s internal affairs, and stop harming China’s sovereignty, security and development interests in the name of competition,” Qin added.