US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called a press conference to present the results of his trip to China, where on Saturday and Sunday he held talks first with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and then with the director of the Chinese Communist Party’s Foreign Affairs Commission, Wang Yi. Before leaving for Washington DC, Blinken was also received by Chinese President Xi Jinping for 35 minutes.
The United States has not changed its position on Taiwan and supports the “One China” principle, Blinken said during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
This same thesis was repeated by Blinken at the press conference at the end of the conversation with Xi Jinping. “We do not support Taiwanese independence, but we will help Taiwan defend itself, if necessary,” the head of US diplomacy said.
Below are Blinken’s other statements at the June 19 press conference in Beijing.
– USA and China “both are responsible for the future fate of the world,” but the relations between the two countries are “on the verge of instability.”
– China “treats US business unfairly.”
– Washington is pursuing the policy aimed at “risk reduction” rather than “separation” from the Chinese economy.
– Blinken asked China to help maintain and expand the “Ukrainian grain deal,” under which 32 million tons of wheat were exported from Ukraine, reminded the head of American diplomacy. *
– US Department of State “is counting on China’s help to stop the flow of synthetic fentanyl, which has become the leading cause of death for people aged 18 to 49 in the US.”
– Blinken said he invited Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang to visit Washington DC and said that some other senior Biden administration officials would visit Beijing in the near future.
– “The differences are deep, but The US has a lot of experience in solving very complex problems through diplomacy.”
– It is not in the US’s interests to “transfer certain technologies to China,” which can be used for “missile program” or for “reciprocal purposes.”
– Blinken emphasized that The European Union shares this position of Washington.
– “We have no evidence that China is supplying weapons to Russia.”
– According to Blinken, China refused to restore “channels designed to reduce the degree of conflict” between the Chinese military and the Pentagon.
– “No one said,” Blinken finally emphasized, “that we could solve all the problems at once. But on a number of topics, we managed to make good progress during our visit.”
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* In his speech at the 26th International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg on June 16, Russian President Vladimir Putin also raised the issue of the “wheat agreement” drafted by the UN. According to information released by Putin, for more than a year, African and some other neediest countries received less than 4% of grain exported from Ukraine.