UPDATE - China tells US to stop interference in its internal affairs: Reports

UPDATES WITH REMARKS BY US SECRETARY OF STATE

By Anadolu staff

China on Friday urged the US to not interfere in China's internal affairs, suppress China's development, or cross the "red lines" when it comes to Beijing's sovereignty, security, and development interests, according to the state-run media.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing as the latter arrived on his three-day official visit to China on Wednesday.

"China's attitude has always been consistent. China views and develops China-U.S. relations from the world vision of building a community with a shared future for humanity," Xinhua News Agency quoted Wang as saying.

He added: "China adheres to the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation, and commits to promoting the stable, healthy, and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations."

Wang also pointed out that positive interactions in the bilateral relations have increased, which, he said, has been welcomed by people and international community.

"However, on the other hand, negative factors in China-US relations continue to rise and accumulate, facing various disruptions and sabotage, with China's legitimate rights to development being unreasonably suppressed and China's core interests continually challenged," the state-run Global Times quoted Wang as saying.

This is Blinken's second visit to China in less than a year.

During the meeting, the two top diplomats also discussed issues related to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, Middle East conflict, Taiwan, and South China Sea.

"It remains to be seen whether both sides will lead in international cooperation to address global issues for mutual and multilateral gains, or oppose and confront each other, even to the point of conflict, leading to losses for all," Wang said.

On Tuesday, a senior official of China's Foreign Ministry said Chinese leaders are expected to raise several issues, including how the two powers effectively manage their differences, strengthen dialogue, promote mutually beneficial cooperation, and jointly assume major-country responsibilities during a meeting with Blinken.

US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping met in San Francisco last November for a summit that paved the way for resuming military-to-military communications and "clear and open" communication between defense establishments to avoid miscalculations by either side and prevent a conflict.

- US wants to move forward

On his part, Secretary Blinken told his Chinese counterpart that moving forward on the agenda set by the two presidents in their meeting last year requires active diplomacy.

"In order to try to move forward, but also to make sure that we’re as clear as possible about the areas where we have differences, at the very least to avoid misunderstandings, to avoid miscalculations," Blinken said, according to a transcript released by the US Department of State.

"That really is a shared responsibility that we have not only for our own people but for people around the world given the impact that the relationship between our countries has around the world," he added.

Blinken also said Biden asked him to work on moving forward on the agreements that the presidents reached in San Francisco.

"I hope we can make some progress on the issues that our presidents agreed we should cooperate on, but also clarify our differences, our intent, and make very clear to each other where we stand," he said.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid