Wang Yi accuses the United States of “salami-slicing” and “bullying” tactics in a phone call with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Published December 23, 2022December 23, 2022
The United States must end its “old routine of unilateral bullying,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a phone call.
Wang on Friday accused the United States of trying to suppress China’s development. Washington must heed Beijing’s legitimate concerns, he said, warning the United States against trying to challenge China’s red lines using “salami slicing” tactics.
He referred to the practice of using a series of small actions to achieve a much greater result that would have been difficult to achieve with one large action.
Wang’s remarks underscored the deep tensions marking relations between the world’s two largest economies, even as their leaders have sought to re-engage in diplomacy in recent weeks.
Chinese President Xi Jinping met with US President Joe Biden last month at the G20 summit in Bali, where they discussed a number of burning issues, including Taiwan. It was their first in-person talk since 2017.
China considers Taiwan its home turf and believes the US is slowly undermining its core interests and challenging its profits, careful to avoid a single drastic action that could give China a clear reason to strike back with full force.
Biden had raised objections to “coercive and increasingly aggressive actions against Taiwan,” which he said have undermined peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the wider region, and jeopardized global prosperity.
Xi called it the “first red line” that must not be crossed in Sino-US relations.
Wang stressed that the two sides should focus on translating the two heads of state’s Bali consensus into practical policies and concrete actions, according to a statement from China’s foreign ministry on Friday.
“It is necessary to intensify consultations on the guiding principles of the China-US agreement. relations, promote dialogue at all levels, and resolve specific issues between the two countries through joint working groups,” Wang said.
A brief reading by the US State Department said that Blinken discussed the “need to keep lines of communication open and responsibly manage US-PRC [People’s Republic of China] relations,” in his phone call with Wang.
The US side expressed “concerns about Russia’s war against Ukraine and the threats it poses to global security and economic stability”.
Wang stressed that China has “always been on the side of peace and the purposes of the United Nations Charter”.
“Staying on the side of the international community to promote peace and talks, we will continue to play a constructive role in resolving the crisis in our own way,” Wang told Blinken, citing China’s foreign ministry.
