torsdag 18. juni 2020

Top U.S, China diplomats meet in Hawaii amid frayed ties

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, in Hawaii on Wednesday amid a deep deterioration of ties between the strategic rivals, their first face-to-face meeting since last year.The world’s two largest economies have been at loggerheads over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic and China’s move to impose security legislation on Hong Kong, among the latest flare-ups in tensions that have sharply escalated this year.

Yang told Pompeo that Washington needs to respect Beijing’s positions on key issues, halt its interference on matters such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Xinjiang, and work to repair relations, China’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday. Yang said cooperation between the two countries “is the only correct choice”, according to the ministry.

Pompeo stressed “the need for fully-reciprocal dealings between the two nations across commercial, security, and diplomatic interactions,” U.S. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.