CHINA HOPES US CAN VIEW CHINA'S DEVELOPMENT IN POSITIVE LIGHT: XI

BEIJING, April 26 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said here Friday that China is happy to see a confident, open, prosperous and thriving United States, and hopes the US can also look at China's development in a positive light, reported Xinhua.

"This is a fundamental issue that must be addressed, just like the first button of a shirt that must be put right, in order for the China-US relationship to truly stabilise, improve and move forward," Xi said when meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Blinken on Friday in Beijing, expressing the hope that the US will work with China in the Asia-Pacific region.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said the Asia-Pacific region should not become an arena for big power contest.

It is hoped that the US side will make the right choice, work with China to achieve positive interactions in the Asia-Pacific, stop forming exclusive small groupings, refrain from pressuring regional countries to take sides, stop deploying land-based intermediate-range missiles, stop undermining China's strategic security interests and stop undermining the hard-won peace and stability in the region, he said. 

China, he stated, demands that the US strictly abide by the one-China principle adding that the Taiwan question is the "first red line" that must not be crossed in China-US relations.

The US must also abide the three China-US joint communiques in both words and deeds, refrain from sending wrong signals to the "Taiwan independence" separatists in any way, act on US President Joe Biden's commitment of not supporting "Taiwan independence," not supporting "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan," and not seeking to use the Taiwan question as a tool to contain China.

China also demands that the US should stop arming Taiwan, and support China's peaceful reunification, he added.

Wang emphasised that the Chinese people's right to development is inalienable.

The US has taken endless measures to suppress China's economy, trade as well as science and technology, said Wang

He noted that "this is not fair competition but containment, not de-risking but creating risks."

Wang pointed out that the US should implement its statement that it does not seek to contain China's economic development, does not seek to "decouple" from China, and is not seeking to halt China's scientific and technological progress; and it should stop hyping up the false narrative of "overcapacity" in China, revoke illegal sanctions on Chinese companies, and stop imposing 301 tariffs that violate WTO rules.

-- BERNAMA-XINHUA