BEIJING (Dispatches) - The U.S. is challenging China’s core interests and suppressing the country’s development, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated on Friday during talks with his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The “giant ship” of China-U.S. ties had stabilized, “but negative factors in the relationship are still increasing and building,” Wang said during a meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing.
Blinken arrived in Beijing on Thursday from Shanghai, where he urged the Chinese government to provide a level playing field for U.S. firms in the country.
Bilateral ties face “all kinds of disruptions. China’s legitimate development rights have been unreasonably suppressed and our core interests are facing challenges,” Wang stressed.
Beijing and Washington could either engage in cooperation or confrontation, the foreign minister warned.
China is interested in “stable, healthy, and sustainable” relations and “win-win cooperation” with the U.S., he pointed out.
In order for it to continue, however, Washington should not interfere in Chinese internal affairs or cross Beijing’s ‘red lines’ when it comes to the nation’s sovereignty, security and development, he stressed.
The foreign minister was apparently referring to the tensions around Taiwan, which Beijing views as a Chinese province. Despite agreeing with the ‘One China’ policy on paper, the U.S. maintains ties with the self-governing island and supplies Taipei with weapons.
Blinken told Wang that “there’s no substitute in our judgment for face-to-face diplomacy” between the two countries. The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden wants to ensure that “we’re as clear as possible about the areas where we have differences, at the very least to avoid misunderstandings, to avoid miscalculations,” he said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that Washington is ready to introduce more sanctions against China over its alleged transfer of dual-use goods and components, which it claims can be used by the Russia.
Speaking at a press conference in Beijing following a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the U.S. official recalled that Washington has already imposed sanctions against more than 100 Chinese entities and is “fully prepared to act” and “take additional measures.”
Blinken claimed that China’s alleged support for the Russian defense industry raises concerns not only about the situation in Ukraine, but also about a “medium to long-term threat that many Europeans feel viscerally that Russia poses to them.”
Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal had also reported that the US was drafting sanctions that could cut off some Chinese banks from the global financial system unless Beijing severs its economic ties with Russia.
 Beijing, in turn, has accused the U.S. of hypocrisy for providing billions of dollars in assistance to Ukraine while “unreasonably criticizing the normal trade and economic relations between Russia and China.”
“This is a very hypocritical and irresponsible approach,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbing told reporters on Friday in response to Blinken’s concerns about Beijing’s support of Moscow.
China has also vehemently rejected accusations leveled by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg of “fueling” the Ukraine conflict. Beijing has instead blamed NATO for instigating the crisis by continuing its expansion in Europe and refusing to respect Russian national security concerns.
Beijing has condemned Washington’s deployment of intermediate-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region and will take all effective measures to prevent the U.S. from “messing up” the South China Sea, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said on Thursday.