China urges Biden to resume dialogue as relations continue to worsen

Beijing has urged President Joe Biden-led administration to resume dialogue

As the relations between China and the United States worsen, Beijing on Monday has urged President Joe Biden-led administration to resume dialogue.

Addressing the opening of Lanting Forum on "Promoting Dialogue and Cooperation and Managing Differences: Bring China-US Relations Back to the Right Track", Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged the US to lift its restrictions on Chinese educational and cultural groups, media outlets and institutions for overseas Chinese affairs in the US, remove its obstructions for US local governments and social sectors to engage with China.

"We urge the US to stop smearing the CPC (Communist Party of China) and China's political system, stop conniving with or even supporting the erroneous words and actions of 'Taiwan independence' forces, and stop undermining China's sovereignty and security on internal affairs concerning Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet," he said referring to the growing closeness between Taiwan and the US.

Recently, eight Chinese fighter aircraft flew into the southwestern part of its air defense zone after a US-trained defence minister got appointed as Taiwan's defence minister. In November, the United States and Taiwan signed a blueprint for closer economic ties in Washington.

Global Times quoted Wang as saying that the first phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden on the Lunar New Year's Eve has oriented China-US relations that had been struggling to ascertain its bearings at the crossroads.

During his inaugural speech, he attacked former US President Donald Trump for imposing sanctions on Chinese individuals.

"Over the past few years, the United States basically cut off bilateral dialogue at all levels," he said.

"We stand ready to have candid communication with the US side, and engage in dialogues aimed at solving problems," he added.

This comes weeks after US State Secretary Antony J Blinken had a telephonic conversation with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi during which he conveyed that Washington will continue to stand up for human rights and democratic values, including in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong, and will hold Beijing accountable for its abuses of the international system.

According to a statement by State Department, Blinken reaffirmed that the United States will work together with its allies and partners in defense of our shared values and interests to hold the PRC accountable for its efforts to threaten stability in the Indo-Pacific, including across Taiwan Strait, and its undermining of the rules-based international system.

The relations between the US and China have deteriorated sharply over the last year in wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, China's efforts to curtail Hong Kong's autonomy, and the US-China trade war.