BEIJING (AP) – A Chinese diplomat said on Friday that US policy towards China was “too negative” and that cooperation could be critical as the Biden government focused on combating COVID-19 and economic recovery promote.
The US appears to be emphasizing the confrontation and rejecting cooperation, Le Yucheng, the deputy foreign minister, said in an extensive interview with The Associated Press.
“I have to say that such an approach is too negative,” he said, adding that it had a “future-oriented spirit”.
China could be a partner as Biden tackles the coronavirus and the economy, he said.
“For me, it is difficult to imagine that the two priorities can be resolved without a joint and healthy relationship between China and America,” he said.
Le also hinted that China is unlikely to make new promises at a climate change meeting convened by President Joe Biden next week. He was speaking while Biden’s climate envoy, John Kerry, was discussing the issue on the second day of closed doors with Chinese counterparts in Shanghai.
Chinese President Xi Jinping announced last year that China would be carbon neutral by 2060 and strive to achieve its emissions by 2030.
“For a large country with 1.4 billion people, these goals are not easily achieved,” Le said. “Some countries are asking China to do more on climate change. I’m afraid it’s not very realistic. ”
Le said he had no details about the Kerry meetings in Shanghai.
Biden has invited 40 world leaders, including Xi, to a April 22-23 virtual climate summit. The US and other countries are expected to announce more ambitious national targets for reducing emissions and promise financial assistance for climate efforts by less affluent countries.
Le said that China would convey a positive message during the meeting, but added that China is responding to climate change on its own initiative, not because others have asked for it. Asked whether Xi would join the summit, Le said “the Chinese side is actively studying the matter.”
The US and China are increasingly at odds over a range of issues, including human rights in Tibet and the Xinjiang region, a repression of protests and political freedom in Hong Kong, China’s assertion of its territorial claims on Taiwan and most of the South China Sea. and accusations Beijing was slow to inform the world about the COVID-19 outbreak that became a devastating pandemic.
China had hoped for an improvement in relations under Biden, who succeeded President Donald Trump in January, but the new government showed no sign that he would support the tough policy towards China. The two parties traded sharp and extraordinary public barbs at the start of talks in Alaska last month.
Le said the dialogue after the opening of the Alaska talks was constructive and helpful and that both parties were following up on the issues discussed.
The two countries can work together on the coronavirus response, he said, but any cooperation must be on an equal footing, an apparent reference to US pressure on China in several areas.
“It is not the one side that is compiling a laundry list of claims on the other side,” Le said. “In cooperation, one should not be selfish and only look after one’s own interests without considering the well-being of the other side.”
On the same day that a number of pro-democracy activists were sentenced in Hong KongLe defends China’s repression against protests in the semi-autonomous region. He described the convicts as rioters, saying “they deserve what they get.”
He adds: “I do not think it is strange for Hong Kong to become more like a Chinese city in a way, because Hong Kong is part of China after all.”
The United Kingdom, the United States and others have accused Beijing of withdrawing for 50 years from its commitment to run the former British colony under a so-called “one country, two systems” framework, after submitting it to the Chinese government in 1997. transferred.
Le dismissed such criticism, saying, “Hong Kong is always China’s Hong Kong and it is something that will not change.”
The deputy minister also condemned Western sanctions against enterprises accused of human rights and labor abuse in Xinjiang. The U.S. blocked imports of several companies operating in the region last year and added a ban on Xinjiang’s cotton and tomato products in January.
Instead of protecting workers, Le said: “The sanctions have damaged human rights in Xinjiang, resulting in forced unemployment and forced poverty in Xinjiang.”
He also reiterates warnings against US government contact with Taiwan after Biden sent a delegation of former U.S. officials to meet the island’s president this week. China claims self-governing Taiwan as its territory and says, like Hong Kong, it should be under Beijing’s control.
“The US should never try to play the Taiwan card,” Le said. “It’s very dangerous. This is our red line. The US should never try to cross it. ”
U.S. military officials warn that China can accelerate its time frame for conquering control of Taiwan. Asked if China has a deadline, Le only said it was a ‘historic process’.