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China-US relations: is Wang Yi, Blinken call a step to Xi-Biden summit?

  • Beijing diplomat says relations need to return to normal, affirms major strategies like opening up unchanged
  • Call between the two diplomats is the latest exchange since China’s crucial party congress as G20 summit looms

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has spoken to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in one of his first calls since promotion to the Politburo after the 20th party congress. Photo: AFP
Teddy Ngin Hong KongandAmber Wangin Beijing
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his US counterpart Antony Blinken that relations between the two sides need to “return to a normal track”, in a call on Monday, two weeks before a possible summit between their leaders in Bali, Indonesia.
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According to an official Chinese readout, Wang said Beijing’s major strategies, including its opening-up policy, would remain consistent after the 20th Communist Party congress, which concluded on October 22.

It would be in the common interest of the two countries, and meet the world’s expectations, if ties returned to a “normal track”, Wang said.

He also called on Washington to halt its newly announced export restrictions, which he said had seriously damaged China’s “just interests”.

The statement made no mention of differences over Taiwan, an issue which has prompted the worst tensions in decades, following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island in August.

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The conversation was among Wang’s first phone calls after his promotion to the Politburo at the end of the party congress. He is set to play an even more senior role in driving China’s foreign policy over the next five years.
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