China, US reach five deals during Blinken’s visit

BEIJING. – China and the United States reached agreements on five fronts during US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing.

At a press briefing on Monday night, after Blinken wrapped up his two-day visit, Yang Tao, director-general of the Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, summarized these agreements:

First, both sides have agreed to jointly implement the important common understandings reached by the two presidents in Bali, Indonesia, effectively manage differences, and advance dialogue, exchanges and cooperation.

Second, both sides have agreed to maintain high-level interactions. Blinken invited Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang to visit the US, and Qin expressed his readiness to make the visit at a mutually convenient time.

Third, both sides have agreed to keep moving forward consultations on the guiding principles of China-US relations.

Fourth, both sides have agreed to continue advancing consultations through the joint working group to address specific issues in the relations.

Fifth, both sides have agreed to encourage more people-to-people and educational exchanges, and had positive discussions on increasing passenger flights between the two countries. Both sides welcomed more mutual visits by students, scholars and business people, and agreed to provide support and facilitation to this end.

Yang also blasted the US for tampering with the political commitment it has made to China on the Taiwan question during the press briefing.

By linking the peaceful resolution of the Taiwan question with its “one-China policy” and taking it as a core element of the policy, the US is not honouring its commitment, he noted.

“That is not the reaffirmation of or adherence to the U.S. political commitment to China, but a tampering with it,” Yang said.

Noting that the Taiwan question has always been the most important issue in China-US relations, he said the US has made a clear commitment to one China.

It acknowledges that there is but one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China, and it recognizes the government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government of China, Yang pointed out.

These commitments are clearly stated in the three China-US joint communiques, he said. That means that the US side recognizes the real status quo in the Taiwan Straits – there is only one China in the world and that both sides of the Taiwan Straits belong to the same China, which the US calls its “one-China policy,” he said.

Yang continued to say the US unilaterally added the so-called Taiwan Relations Act and “Six Assurances.” – CGTN.co