BEIJING, 22 February, 2021 (TON): The U.S. and China could work together on issues like climate change and the pandemic if they repaired their damaged bilateral relationship says Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi on Monday.

Beijing stood ready to reopen constructive dialogue with Washington after relations between the two countries sank to their lowest in decades under former President Donald Trump, said Wang.

He urged Washington to respect China’s interests, and remove tariffs on Chinese goods and abandon what he said was an irrational suppression of the Chinese tech sector; steps he said would create the “necessary conditions” for cooperation.

 “Over the past few years, the United States basically cut off bilateral dialogue at all levels,” Wang said.

“We stand ready to have candid communication with the U.S. side, and engage in dialogues aimed at solving problems.”

However, the recent call between the Chinese state leader President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden is viewed as a positive step. Multiple fronts including trade, accusations of human rights crimes against the Uighur Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region, and Beijing’s territorial claims in the resource-rich South China Sea have been reasons for the clash between the two.