China urges the US to end ‘microphone diplomacy’ in disputes with Beijing
A Chinese official in Washington says respect and genuine dialogue best way to resolve differences, amid spats over the South China Sea and cyber attacks
China and the United States differences over the South China Sea and cyber security should not be addressed by “microphone diplomacy” but in a proper way to allow for a successful US visit by President Xi Jinping this year, according to a senior Chinese diplomat.
Wu Xi, deputy chief of mission at the Chinese embassy in Washington, said individual issues should not be allowed to overshadow the overall US-China relationship and that common interests, including trade volume of US$550 billion last year, far outweigh differences between the countries.
“Resorting to microphone diplomacy, or pointing fingers at each other, will not solve any problems,” Wu told a meeting on Capitol Hill to mark the 10th anniversary of the U. Congress’s US-China Working Group.
“The right choice is to recognise our differences, respect each other and engage in real dialogue,” she said.
“The choice we make today will decide the future of our two great nations, as well as the entire world.”
Wu was referring to disagreements between Washington and Beijing over China’s increasingly assertive pursuit of territorial claims in the South China Sea, which have raised fears of military confrontation, and a massive cyber attack on the US government that American officials have blamed on Chinese hackers.
China has called the hacking allegations irresponsible and says it has the right to build artificial islands in its territory.