MUNICH, Feb 14 (Reuters) – Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned on Saturday against “subliminal” calls for the United States to distance itself from China, saying that despite some recent positive signs from the White House, some voices in the United States were damaging relations between the two countries.
He called on Washington to adopt a “proactive and pragmatic” policy and told the Munich Security Conference that the best outcome for both sides was cooperation.
Wang Yi met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday, in what a U.S. official described as a “positive and constructive” meeting, and discussed U.S. President Donald Trump’s planned visit to Beijing in April.
The United States and China have been seeking to thaw ties after a year of turmoil over trade and tariff policies, and Wang said Beijing was encouraged by recent comments from the White House showing “respect for President Xi Jinping and the Chinese people.”
The United States and European countries are increasingly concerned about their growing reliance on China for important parts of their raw materials and manufacturing supply chains, and there have been widespread calls to reduce their reliance on China.
Wang Yi said that some people in the United States are “trying every possible means to attack and discredit China” and there may be two prospects for relations between the two countries.
He said that the United States can understand China reasonably and objectively and adopt a positive and pragmatic policy towards China.
“The alternative prospect is to seek to decouple from China and cut off supply chains and oppose China on everything in a purely emotional, knee-jerk way,” he said. He warned that some people “are trying to separate Taiwan from China and step on China’s red lines, which is likely to push China and the United States into conflict.”
“For our part, China wants to see the first prospect, and I’m sure you think the same, but China is ready to deal with all kinds of risks,” he said.
(Reporting by James McKenzie; Editing by Sarah Marsh and Thomas Janowski)
