Blinken urges China to resume cooperation with US on climate change, combating narcotics
- In National Day message, US secretary of state calls on Beijing to address global challenges together
- Row over Pelosi visit to Taiwan has seen bilateral ties plunge to lowest point in four decades
“We hope for a peaceful and happy year ahead for the people of China”.
China’s top leaders appear at National Day event ahead of major reshuffle
Beijing regarded Pelosi’s trip as an endorsement of Taiwan’s pro-independence agenda, even though Washington said its policies regarding the self-ruled island remained unchanged.
Beijing sees the island as part of China and has never ruled out the use of force to take control of it. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state. Washington, however, opposes any attempt to take the island by force.
US, China should cooperate on energy reform even amid other disagreements
US officials accused China of taking climate change and anti-narcotics efforts hostage by suspending cooperation, but Beijing said the retaliation was needed to defend its core interests and sovereignty.
He said US sanctions imposed on the Ministry of Public Security’s Institute of Forensic Science and the National Narcotics Laboratory over alleged human rights violations in Xinjiang had hindered China’s efforts to fight the narcotics trade.
China and the US set up working groups to address the fentanyl problem in 2015. The synthetic opioid is highly addictive and overdoses kill tens of thousands of Americans each year.
President Xi Jinping promised then US president Donald Trump in 2018 that he would crack down on the production and distribution of the drug. Beijing listed fentanyl as a controlled substance in 2019, leading to a drop in supply to the US to almost zero.
Both sides agreed to continue communication, and Wang said the US had no right to intervene in how the Taiwan issue was resolved.
He said US officials had sent “very wrong, dangerous signals” on Taiwan, and warned that China was determined to safeguard its territorial integrity. Blinken had called on China to end provocative actions against Taiwan.
On Wednesday, US Vice-President Kamala Harris said the US would strengthen “unofficial ties” with Taiwan and support its self-defence.