BEIJING, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Chinese President Xi Jinping met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday, the second and last day of the top U.S. diplomat’s visit to China.
During the meeting, Xi urged actions to stabilize and improve China-U.S. relations, and emphasized that whether the two countries can find the right way to get along bears on the future and destiny of humanity.
“Planet Earth is big enough to accommodate the respective development and common prosperity of China and the United States,” he said.
The Chinese, like the Americans, are “dignified, confident and self-reliant” people, and they both have the right to pursue a better life, Xi stressed.
The common interests of the two countries should be valued, and their respective success is an opportunity for each other, not a threat, he said.
‘World needs stable China-U.S. ties’
Noting that the international community is concerned about the current state of the relations, Xi said it does not want to see conflict or confrontation between China and the U.S. or choose sides between them.
“The two countries should act with a sense of responsibility for history, for the people and for the world, and handle China-U.S. relations properly,” urged the Chinese leader.
“In this way, they may contribute to global peace and development, and help make the world, which is changing and turbulent, more stable, certain and constructive,” he added.
Blinken said U.S. President Joe Biden believes that the U.S. and China have an obligation to responsibly manage their relations, which is in the interest of both countries and the world.
Translating Bali common understandings into actions
When Xi and Biden held their first in-person talks as heads of state on the sidelines of a Group of 20 (G20) Summit on the Indonesian island of Bali last November, both sides agreed to take actions to take China-U.S. relations back to the track of stable development.
During Monday’s meeting with Blinken, the Chinese president reiterated that the two countries need to remain committed to the common understandings he and Biden had reached in Bali, and translate the positive statements into actions so as to stabilize and improve China-U.S. relations.
He noted that major-country competition does not represent the trend of the times, much less can it solve America’s own problems or the challenges facing the world.
“China respects U.S. interests and does not seek to challenge or displace the United States,” said Xi. “In the same vein, the United States needs to respect China and must not hurt China’s legitimate rights and interests.”
China always hopes to see a sound and steady China-U.S. relationship and believes that the two major countries can overcome various difficulties and find the right way to get along based on mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, he added.
Blinken said the U.S. is committed to returning to the agenda set by the two presidents in Bali.
The United States stands by the commitments made by Biden, namely it does not seek a new Cold War, it does not seek to change China’s system, its alliances are not directed at China, it does not support “Taiwan independence,” and it does not seek conflict with China, reiterated Blinken.
He added, the U.S. side looks forward to having high-level engagement with the Chinese side, keeping open lines of communication, responsibly managing differences, and pursuing dialogue, exchanges and cooperation.
Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University of China, told CGTN on Monday that it was an important step for China and the U.S. to stabilize their relations as both sides agreed to take the business and people-to-people exchanges back to normal following Blinken’s visit.
Monday’s meeting was the first time a U.S. secretary of state had met the Chinese president since 2018. Blinken is the senior most U.S. official to visit China since Biden took office in early 2021.
Photo – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IklA-GUFeqY
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