China on Monday urged the United States to immediately correct wrongdoings and stop actions damaging its rights and interests, calling on the two major countries to “follow the right path of win-win cooperation, rather than go astray toward conflict and confrontation.”
Yang Jiechi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks while meeting with visiting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Noting the current China-US ties were at a critical phase, Yang, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said China had “openly demonstrated its position and lodged solemn representations to the US side on the negative remarks it had made against China.”
He said China would firmly safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests.
Yang called on the United States to “make right choices and meet China halfway to seriously implement important consensus the two heads of state have reached in their several meetings.”
“To guarantee bilateral relations follow the right path, the two countries should properly handle differences on the basis of mutual respect and expand pragmatic cooperation on the basis of mutual benefit,” he said.
Yang reiterated China’s positions on trade, the Taiwan issue and the South China Sea issue.
Pompeo said the United States was committed to realizing cooperation and win-win results with China, and is willing to strengthen communication with the Chinese side to seek for a constructive plan to tackle challenges the current bilateral relations are faced with.
He said the US side would adhere to the one-China policy and continue to maintain communication and coordination with China on international and regional issues.
The two sides also exchanged views on the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
Pompeo’s trip to China came after his visit to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Republic of Korea.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Pompeo earlier on Monday.
Wang said that the United States had “escalated trade friction with China, took actions that jeopardized China’s rights and interests on the Taiwan issue and unwarrantedly condemned China on its domestic and foreign policies.”
Stressing that the moves directly impacted mutual trust and cast a shadow over China-US relations, Wang urged the United States to immediately stop making negative remarks.
Wang expressed his hope that Pompeo’s Beijing visit would play a positive role in supporting healthy bilateral ties.