The number two of the American diplomacy Wendy Sherman met on Monday in the big city of Tianjin with the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi. A meeting in a tale ...

For their first Biden-era interview, Beijing and Washington renew their grievances

US Assistant Secretary of State Wendy Sherman (L) and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi meet in Tianjin, China, July 26, 2021. AP

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The number two of the American diplomacy Wendy Sherman met on Monday in the big city of Tianjin with the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi.

A meeting in a tense context during which the Chinese and Americans reiterated their grievances and which gave rise to an indictment in good standing from Beijing.

Publicity

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had promised this weekend to provide a "

tutorial

" to Americans to teach them to "

treat other countries with equality

." It is now done. Among the few elements that have filtered from the meeting between the Chinese foreign minister and the number 2 of the American Secretary of State, not open to the press, are two lists of conditions given by the Chinese side to the American delegation. to mend their relationships.

The first concerns coercive actions against China which must be lifted, reports our correspondent in Beijing,

Stéphane Lagarde

. The other, the concerns of the communist regime. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng spoke about the lifting of sanctions and taxes imposed on companies in the context of the trade war, as well as the abandonment of the extradition request of the daughter of the founder of Huawei assigned at home in Canada.

It also calls for the lifting of sanctions against Chinese leaders and their families, and an end to what is seen as "

harassment

" of Chinese diplomatic representations and state media in the United States.

Beijing no longer wants to hear about an investigation into the origins of Covid-19, Taiwan, Hong Kong or even Xinjiang from American representatives.

"Imaginary enemy"

Even before the meeting with Wang Yi, his vice-minister

Xie Feng accused

the Americans of being entirely responsible for the deterioration of ties between the two powers. Relations are "

at an impasse

" and Washington must stop "

demonizing

" Beijing, he told his interlocutor. “

Basically, it's because Americans see China as an imaginary enemy

,” he added.

Since his arrival at the White House, Joe Biden has hardly changed the policy of his predecessor towards China, in particular leaving in place the

trade sanctions

imposed by Donald Trump on Chinese products.

He also worked to convince America's allies to join a common front of democracies in the face of a China seen as increasingly authoritarian and aggressive.

The Chinese people see in the American strategy "

a poorly disguised attempt to hinder China and repress it

", hammered Xie Feng to his interlocutor.

The emphasis is in fact (by Washington) on confrontation, while cooperation is only opportunism and competition a trap,

" he said.

"Very vigorous" and "brutally honest"

Washington, for its part, assured that Wendy Sherman had been "

very vigorous

" and even "

brutally honest

" with his interlocutors.

In a statement, the State Department clarified that she had referred to "

the anti-democracy crackdown in Hong Kong

" and "

the continued genocide and crimes against humanity in
Xinjiang

The American diplomat explained that the fact of accusing China of violating human rights in Hong Kong or vis-à-vis the Uyghurs, was not an interference, but above all a call to respect international laws in matter.

Wendy Sherman says she hopes now that China will do what is necessary to continue the dialogue, relates our correspondent in New York,

Loubna Anaki

The Deputy Secretary of State also assured that the United States was not opposed to close competition with China as long as it complies with international rules.

So far, since the Biden administration took office, only US climate envoy John Kerry had visited China last April.

The climate is one of the few themes on which Washington hopes to be able to cooperate with the Chinese.

At the end of her visit, Wendy Sherman was content to invite Beijing to go beyond the differences between them to work in partnership on important issues such as the climate.

But Beijing said it refused to discuss the issue in the absence of an overall improvement in the relationship.

For their first Biden-era interview, Beijing and Washington renew their grievances

For their first Biden-era interview, Beijing and Washington renew their grievances

"Imaginary enemy"

"Very vigorous" and "brutally honest"

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