Blinken meets Chinese foreign minister, raises human rights concerns

WASHINGTON, 02 November 2021, (TON): US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Rome and raised concerns over human rights, in only their second face-to-face session as tensions between the two powers run high

Blinken expressed opposition to actions by China that run counter to our values and interests including actions related to human rights, Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong, the East and South China Seas, and Taiwan.

Blinken also noted areas where he said the US and China’s interests intersect and they can work together, including “the DPRK, Burma, Iran, Afghanistan, and the climate crisis.”

The meeting in Rome, where both diplomats were attending the G20 Summit, is the first between Blinken and Wang since a stormy session in Alaska in March during which the Chinese delegation berated the American side as TV cameras rolled.

The statement said “secretary Blinken underscored the importance of maintaining open lines of communication to responsibly manage the competition between the US and the People’s Republic of China.”

Earlier this week, Washington ordered China Telecom Americas to discontinue its services within 60 days ending nearly two decades of operations in the country and piling further strain on relations between the two countries.

US President Joe Biden has pressed ahead with a hard-line trade policy against Beijing broadly in line with that of his predecessor Donald Trump, whose bombastic approach sent tensions soaring.