Politics

China-US must boost cooperation to tackle ‘global challenges’: Li says

Beijing, Mar 11 (EFE).- Washington and Beijing must increase dialog and communication to tackle the growing global challenges, China’s premier said on Friday.

“Getting the China-US relationship right serves the well-being of the people of both countries, and currently there are many global challenges that require their joint effort and cooperation,” Li Keqiang said at a press conference after the conclusion of the annual session of the National People’s Congress.

“We hope both countries properly manage differences in a rational and constructive manner, and respect each other’s core interests and major concerns”, he added.

Li stressed the need for “healthy and fair” competition between both countries.

“Fifty years ago, China and the United States broke the ice and embarked on the voyage of normalizing relations and over the past half century, bilateral relations have been moving forward despite ups and downs,” he said.

“Since we have opened the door to each other, we should not close it again, or decouple from each other,” he added.

Aside from his review of the country’s economic and social situation, Li also spoke about the war in Ukraine, a conflict that China is “deeply concerned” about.

He highlighted China’s willingness to work together with the international community and play a positive role in restoring peace.

Describing the current situation as “alarming,” Li said that the international community should support Russia and Ukraine to “overcome challenges” and continue negotiations until a peaceful solution is reached.

The Chinese premier also warned that Western sanctions against Moscow will harm the global economy and are “in the interest of no one.”

On the island of Taiwan, whose sovereignty Beijing claims, Li said that China firmly opposes any separatist activities that seek its “independence.”

The island, which is governed independently from the Chinese mainland, is a major point of conflict between China and the US.

The tension stems mainly from the fact that Washington is the main supplier of arms to Taiwan and would be its biggest military ally in the event of a war with Beijing, which claims sovereignty over the Island.

Around the time of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a Taiwanese national security official said that “Beijing could take advantage of the situation in Ukraine to start a cognitive war with Taiwan to convince the island’s inhabitants that the United States would not honor its commitment to defend the island.” EFE

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