2024-01-27 16:12:00
Discussions ” frank » et « substantial “. This is what China and the United States judged regarding the discussion between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Bangkok.
« The two sides held frank, substantive and fruitful strategic discussions » especially on “ how to appropriately handle important and sensitive issues in China-US relations “, indicated the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The two countries seem keen to renew dialogue, with Washington sending several senior officials to Beijing last year and a meeting in November between US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in California. Moreover, a call between the two leaders is currently in preparation, indicated the White House following the meetings between Wang Yi and Jake Sullivan, held Friday and Saturday in the Thai capital.
The White House added that this meeting was part of “ as part of efforts to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage competition in relationships » between the two powers.
Tensions around Taiwan
Several issues have widened a gap between the United States and China in recent years around trade, rivalry with new technologies, the struggle for influence in the Asia-Pacific or even around the South China Sea and human rights. Above all, the two powers clash around Taiwan, (officially “ the Republic of China “), that Beijing (” the People’s Republic of China “) considered as an integral part of Chinese territory.
China accuses the United States, which does not officially recognize Taiwan, of being the main supplier of arms and the main support of the Taiwanese authorities.
« The biggest challenge to China-US relations is the Taiwan independence movement “, underlined Wang Yi in front of Jake Sullivan, indicated Beijing in its press release, adding that “ the United States must (…) concretely implement its commitment not to support the independence of Taiwan and to support the peaceful reunification of China » .
The country takes a dim view of the increase in recent years in contacts between American and Taiwanese political leaders, which it considers to be breaches of the United States’ promise not to have official relations with Taipei.
Two American deputies visited the island once more on Wednesday following the Taiwanese presidential election, held in January, which further strained ties between Beijing and Washington.
Difficulties with the European Union
These discussions come shortly following tensions escalated between China and the European Union. The latter announced on Wednesday several initiatives including the strengthening of the mechanism for controlling foreign investments in Europe which came into force at the end of 2020. News which upset China. Its Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said:
“We hope that the EU will respect free trade, free competition and open cooperation, which are fundamental norms of the market economy,” adding that “the international community is very concerned regarding the protectionist unilateralism of the EU in the economic and commercial sectors.
Last December, Beijing announced that the country would stop the export of a series of technologies linked to the extraction of rare earths. An event which constitutes a turning point in the history of world trade and which follows a first decision by China to condition the export of two strategic metals (gallium and germanium), to the approval of the central government. However, these metals are precisely essential for the development of numerous technologies (electric batteries, chips, smartphones, LCD screens, Internet, wind turbines, and military equipment, etc.).
Thus, the Middle Kingdom intends to deprive its trading partners of several materials in order to dominate the issues of technological independence.
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