CHINA / DIPLOMACY
‘Thorns that vary in size in China-US relations’ need to be removed; no information about top leaders’ meeting: FM
Published: Sep 29, 2021 09:57 PM
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying Photo: fmprc.gov.cn

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying Photo: fmprc.gov.cn


 
China has no information to release at present about whether the Chinese and US top leaders will meet at the upcoming G20 summit and the contact between them should be decided via bilateral negotiations, Hua Chunying, the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a routine press conference on Wednesday.

Hua's remarks were in response to media question on whether it is possible for the two countries' top leaders to meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit that is in Italy in November, as the resolution of the Meng Wanzhou incident removed a thorn inserted in China-US relations.

"The remaining thorns that vary in size need to be removed from the bilateral ties," Hua said. "The contact between the two countries' top leaders should be decided via bilateral negotiations, and China has no information to release at present."

"China has expressed its hope to the US through various channels that the US should pay attention to China's concerns and take concrete actions," Hua said.

By working together, China hopes that the US can cross off the items on the "two lists" put forward by China during recent bilateral talks in Tianjin as soon as possible, Hua noted.

China put forward two lists during talks with visiting US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman in July. One is a list of wrongdoings that the US must stop and the second is a list of key individual cases of concern to China. Both lists clearly request that the US drop the erroneous charges against Meng and ensure her safe return to China as soon as possible.

Meng, Huawei's chief financial officer, arrived in Shenzhen on Saturday night on a charter flight organized by the Chinese government, after being illegally detained for nearly three years in Canada at the behest of the US government. 

Meng reached a landmark deal with the US Justice Department on Friday that allowed her to return to China, under which the senior executive of the Chinese company has not pleaded guilty.

The Meng case has been widely taken as a symbolic turning point in the years-long geopolitical wrestling match between China and the US and a hard-fought victory for the country and its people against Western hegemony, observers said.

Global Times