Politics

China, US top diplomats talk amid new tension over American export curbs

Washington/Beijing, Oct 31 (EFE).- United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, amid renewed tensions over US export controls that have posed more challenges to repairing bilateral ties.

During the telephonic conversation on Sunday, Wang criticized new US export curbs and Blinken flagged global security and economic threats posed by the Ukraine war.

“The secretary discussed the need to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage the US-(China) relationship,” a State Department statement said.

“The secretary raised Russia’s war against Ukraine and the threats it poses to global security and economic stability.”

According to a Chinese foreign ministry statement, Wang told Blinken that the restrictions by Washington on technology exports to China “seriously violate” bilateral trade agreements.

“The latest US restrictions on exports and investment in China seriously violate trade agreements and harm China’s legitimate interests,” Wang said.

Wang stressed that the US must stop its containment and suppression of China and not create new obstacles to bilateral relations.

“The US side introduced new export controls against China, restricting investments in China, seriously violating free-trade principles and seriously harming China’s legitimate rights and interests, which must be corrected.”

He referred to the US move restricting Chinese access to chipmaking technology a few weeks ago.

The US government limited the sale of semiconductors and chipmaking equipment to Chinese customers, hitting the basis of the Chinese efforts to set up its chip industry.

Wang told Blinken that “all parties must remain calm” and focus on making diplomatic efforts to prevent the situation from escalating.

“The United States must stop viewing China with ideological prejudices that only blind its eyes,” he said.

The call was the first between the two leaders since Wang was promoted to the Communist Party’s 24-member Politburo earlier this month.

The promotion came as China’s President Xi Jinping secured a historic third term at the 20th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.

Xi promoted some of his closest Communist Party allies and cemented his position as the nation’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong. EFE

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