US Secretary Pompeo’s China visit marked by frosty talks and ‘fundamental disagreement’
Stern tone mars exchanges between Beijing and Washington’s top diplomats
Top diplomats from China and the US engaged in a frosty exchange on Monday as US Secretary Mike Pompeo declared the two powers were stuck in “fundamental disagreement” over a range of issues from trade to China’s domestic and foreign policies.
The exchange, between Pompeo and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, displayed an unusually stern tone from both sides, amid rising tension between the world’s two largest economies.
Wang, also a state councillor, accused Washington of escalating the trade conflict, interfering with Taiwan, and levelling false accusations about China’s domestic and foreign policies, according to a readout posted on China’s foreign ministry website.
“These actions have damaged our mutual trust, cast a shadow over the future of China-US relations, and go against the interests of the people of the two countries,” Wang told Pompeo.
“We demand that the US side immediately stop its wrong actions and words.”
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Pompeo retorted that “the issues that you characterised, we have a fundamental disagreement”.