State Department officials said that one of the Biden administration’s current priorities in its China Policy is to consult with allies and partner countries before engaging directly with China on major areas of mutual interest.
In the two weeks since the new administration took office, President Biden has spoken with leaders of several countries around the world, and Secretary Blinken has made similar moves, but has been slow to speak with Chinese leaders and has generated speculation.
Ned Price, the new State Department spokesman, was asked at a regular press conference Tuesday (Feb. 2, 2021) whether the United States was delaying interaction with China on some major global issues. He replied that it was about “the sequencing of our actions on a broad range of foreign policy issues.”
Price said it was no coincidence that President Biden came into office and engaged first with America’s closest allies in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region, and it was no coincidence that Secretary Blinken came into office and engaged first with America’s closest allies. He said, “As a first step in action, we want to make sure we’re in step with those allies, in step with those partners, and then you can expect us to engage with China in a number of areas.”
Earlier, the White House also said the Biden Administration would seek new ways to deal with Beijing with “strategic patience,” including an interdepartmental assessment of current China policy and consultations with U.S. allies and partners.
A day before U.S. Time, China’s top diplomat called for a push to return the U.S.-China bilateral relationship to a predictable and constructive course.
In a video address Monday evening at a conference hosted by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary-general and head of the Central Committee’s Foreign Affairs Working Committee, said China is willing to work with the United States to promote bilateral relations along a track of non-confrontation, non-conflict, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, and to “build a great power model of peaceful coexistence, cooperation and win-win model of peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation.” But he warned that the U.S. should stop interfering in China’s internal affairs, saying that Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang are “untouchable” issues related to China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
State Department spokesman Price said he took note of Yang Jiechi’s remarks and said the U.S. response would be, “We urge Beijing to stop pressuring Taiwan militarily, diplomatically and economically, and to engage in meaningful dialogue with Taiwan’s democratically elected leaders.”
More broadly, Price said, “we will confront China’s aggressive, coercive actions, solidify our critical military advantage, defend democratic values, invest in research and development of advanced technologies, and restore vital security partnerships.”
He said the United States is competing strategically with China, but will work with China on a “limited basis” on issues of mutual interest, such as global climate change.
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