Both diplomats described their first face-to-face talks since October as “candid”, with the meeting coming a day after they attended a meeting of G20 foreign ministers on the Indonesian island of Bali.
“I shared again with the state adviser that we are concerned about the PRC’s accommodation to Russia,” Blinken said at a press conference after the talks, referring to the People’s Republic of China. He said he did not think China was being neutral because it supported Russia at the United Nations and “reinforced Russian propaganda.”
After the meeting, a US official said “neither side held back”.
“We were very open about where our differences were … but the meeting was also constructive because despite the frankness, the tone was very professional,” the official said.
Blinken said Chinese leader Xi Jinping made it clear in a conversation with President Vladimir Putin on June 13 that he was behind the decision to create a partnership with Russia.
Shortly before Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine, Beijing and Moscow announced a “no-holds-barred” partnership, although US officials say they have not seen China avoid tough US-imposed sanctions on Russia or provide it with military equipment.
US officials have warned of consequences, including sanctions, if China offers material support for the war, which Moscow calls a “special military operation” to degrade Ukraine’s military. Kyiv and its Western allies say the incursion is an unprovoked land grab.
Asked about his refusal to hold talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the G20, Blinken said: “The problem is this: We don’t see any signs that Russia at this point is ready to engage in meaningful diplomacy.”
Wang exchanged in-depth views on the “Ukraine issue” during the talks on Saturday, according to a statement released by his ministry, without giving details.
He also told Blinken that there was a danger that the direction of US-China relations would be further “misguided” by a problem with the United States’ perception of China.
“Many people believe that the United States is suffering from an increasingly serious bout of ‘Sinophobia,'” Wang was quoted as saying.
A matter of tariffs
Wang also said Washington should cancel additional tariffs on China as soon as possible and end unilateral sanctions against Chinese companies.
U.S. officials said before the talks that the meeting was aimed at keeping the strained U.S.-China relationship stable and preventing it from inadvertently slipping into conflict.
In late June, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi were expected to speak again in the next few weeks.
Daniel Russell, the top US diplomat for East Asia under former President Barack Obama, who maintains close contact with Biden administration officials, said before the talks that the main purpose of the meeting would be to explore the possibility of a one-on-one meeting between Biden and Xi, the first their leader.
The US calls China its main strategic rival and is concerned that it may one day try to take over the self-governing, democratic island of Taiwan.
Despite their rivalry, the world’s two largest economies remain major trading partners, and Biden is considering removing tariffs on a range of Chinese goods to curb rising US inflation ahead of midterm elections in November.
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