US urged to abide by one-China principle in top diplomats’ phone call

China’s Yang Jiechi calls for stability in the Taiwan Strait in first conversation with Secretary of State Antony Blinken since Alaska meeting

Yang also calls on US to respect science and not spread the Wuhan lab leak theory

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Yang Jiechi, head of the Communist Party’s foreign affairs office, have had their first phone conversation since their meeting in Alaska. Photo: AP

Published: 8:56pm, 11 Jun 2021Updated: 10:28pm, 11 Jun 2021

China urged the US to abide by the one-China principle and maintain the stability of the Taiwan Strait during a phone conversation between the two countries’ top diplomats on Friday.

Speaking with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Yang Jiechi, head of the Communist Party’s foreign affairs office and a Politburo member, also said China opposed the politicisation of the origin of the Covid-19 virus.

It was their first phone call since the face-to-face meeting in March in Alaska and followed three phone conversations between the two countries’ economic and trade chiefs since late May. It also came ahead of the summit of the Group of Seven in Britain, where China is expected to top the agenda.

According to a readout of the meeting released by state media, Yang said China sought neither confrontation nor conflict with the US but would firmly defend its sovereignty and security.

“We urge the US side to stick to the consensus agreed by the leaders of both countries in their phone call at the Chinese New Year, to push China-US relations back to the correct track,” he said.

Yang said the Taiwan issue was a matter of core interest to China and called on the US to “properly handle Taiwan-related issues with caution”.

Beijing regards the self-ruled island as a renegade province to be returned to the mainland, by force if necessary.