Meet The US Ambassador, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang: The Top Priority Is To Stabilize Relationships

The meeting of Ambassador Burns with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang. (Twitter/@USAmbChina)

JAKARTA - Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Monday it was essential to stabilize China-US relations after a series of "words and wrong deeds" made relations freeze again.

Foreign Minister Qin, in a meeting in Beijing with US Ambassador Nicholas Burns, stressed in particular that Washington should improve its handling of Taiwan's issues and stop investigating the principle of "one China", according to China's foreign ministry.

Asked about Foreign Minister Qin's statement, US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said Burns had " personally conveyed", there was no change in US policy against Beijing, particularly China's one- China policy, in which Washington officially acknowledged Beijing diplomatically, not Taipei.

Patel said in a routine briefing, Burns had spoken about areas where the two countries could work together, including climate change, global health and food security.

"We want and intend to keep the lines of communication open," Patel said, adding Washington would "continue to stand with our friends and allies across the Indo-Pacific to advance our prosperity, security and values together," as quoted by Reuters on May 9.

I met State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang today. We discussed challenges in the U.S.-China relationship and the necessity of stabilizing ties and expanding high-level communication. pic.twitter.com/2AYxkXiVMI

— Ambassador Nicholas Burns (@USAmbChina) May 8, 2023

I met State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang today. We uncovered challenges in the US-China relationship and the necessity of stabilizingies and expansion high-level communications. pic.twitter.com/2AYxxXiVMI

"We have no intention of changing the status quo - it is not an approach that has been tried by the United States," he said.

The relationship between the two countries with the world's largest economies slumped to its lowest point last year, when US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited democratically-ruled Taiwan and claimed the island as its territory.

In response, Beijing decided on several formal lines of communication with the United States including one route of communication between their military.

"The main priority is to stabilize China-US relations, avoid decline and prevent accidents between China and the United States," Foreign Minister Qin told Burns, according to China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Tensions eased in November, when US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met during the G20 Summit in Indonesia, pledging to hold dialogue more often.

However, tensions heated up again in February when a Chinese hot air balloon appeared in US airspace, prompting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel his visit to Beijing in response.

Foreign Minister Qin said, "a series of words and wrong actions by the United States" since the meeting of leaders of the two countries, had "destalled the positive momentum gained hard from China-US relations."

"The agenda for dialogue and cooperation agreed upon by both parties has been disrupted, and the relationship between the two countries is once again frozen," he said.

Meanwhile, in a post on Twitter, Burns also talked about the need to bring stability to the relationship.

"We discuss challenges in US-Chinese relations and the need to stabilize relationships and expand high-level communications," he said.