Yang Jiechi, director of Foreign Affairs of the Communist Party of China, reiterated to the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken the need to work in conjunction to keep ties stable and differences under control.

He insisted on mutual respect, win-win cooperation and avoidance of confrontation, but noted that the situation in Taiwan is the most sensitive issue and Washington should treat it with restraint.

On that point, Yang urged the White House to stick to the three joint communiqués governing mutual ties, cease all official exchanges with Taipei and recognize Beijing as the sole representative to the international community.

He urged the US to focus on its own human rights problems instead of slandering others and using the issue as a pretext for interference in the domestic agenda.

Regarding the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and its consequent Covid-19 disease, Yang deplored the effort to politicize an issue of a scientific nature, rejected any move to blame Beijing and described the theory about the alleged escape of the pathogen from a Wuhan laboratory as absurd.

Among other issues, he called for respecting the political system and development path of each side and pointed out that China will follow the path of socialism with its own peculiarities.

According to reports here, Blinken said that the recent exchanges between officials of the two powers are beneficial to Washington-Beijing ties, and expressed willingness to increase them.

Blinken pledged to abide by the one-China principle, comply with the three joint communiqués and maintain contact on issues of mutual interest.

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