The United States wants to avoid misunderstandings with China

The relationship between China and the United States is tense. There are disagreements over trade issues, allegations of piracy, human rights abuses, and territorial claims to Hong Kong and China. A US government official said the US wants to keep channels of communication open and continue to have an open discussion. “Especially when we disagree, it is important to reduce the potential for misunderstanding between our two countries.”

He criticized China’s recent sanctions against US officials in the Hong Kong dispute. In response to the US punitive measures against representatives of the Hong Kong liaison offices in Beijing and the US warning of the risks to companies in the Chinese Special Administrative Region, Beijing has imposed sanctions on seven people and institutions in the United States.

Former US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and Chair of the Economic and Security Commission to Deal with China (USCC), Carolyn Bartholomew, as well as the non-governmental organization Hong Kong Democratic Council and Sophie Richardson of Human Rights Watch were on China’s blacklist. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman stressed that Hong Kong is China’s internal affair and no one should interfere.

Since Beijing tightened its grip on Hong Kong for a year with a controversial security law, the United States has responded with punitive measures. According to the agreements for the return of the former British crown colony to China in 1997, Hong Kong’s seven million people are supposed to enjoy widespread autonomy and political freedom, but Beijing is taking massive action against critics and the democratic movement in the port city. .

Prior to his talks with Sherman, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang accused the United States of “condescending pressure on others” from a declared position of force. He said, “I want to tell the United States that no country is better than another and there should not be a country.” Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian called on the United States to stop “slandering” Beijing. The United States has no right to lecture China. The United States tried to provoke confrontation and slow down China’s development.

However, the US official referred to the statements of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, in which he stated that “the US relationship with China will be cooperative where it could be, competitive where it should be, and inconsistent with where it should be.” As part of her trip to East Asia, Sherman held talks in Tokyo, Seoul, and the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar, prior to her visit to China.