Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi presses U.S. for ‘sincerity’ in bumpy relationship

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi wrapped up three days of high-level talks in Washington — including an hourlong session with President Biden — saying the onus is on Washington to take active moves to bolster the troubled bilateral relationship.

Paving the way for a likely face-to-face meeting between Mr. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping at a Pacific Rim nations’ summit in San Francisco next month, Mr. Wang cautioned that the road to the meeting could be bumpy and the two nations will not get there “on autopilot.”

A Chinese Foreign Ministry statement over the weekend said Mr. Wang urged his American hosts to “return to Bali” — a reference to the November 2022 Xi-Biden meeting at a Group of 20 summit that was supposed to usher in a more normal and productive relationship.

But a series of setbacks — most notably tensions over Taiwan and the furor over a Chinese intelligence balloon that was shot down after sailing over much of the continental U.S. early this year — sent relations plummeting.

Mr. Wang, making the first trip by a Chinese foreign minister to Washington in four years, told a group of China specialists and business leaders Saturday that the two sides must “eliminate interference, overcome obstacles, enhance consensus and accumulate results” if the relationship is to improve.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan held some seven hours of talks with Mr. Wang over two days, the State Department said.

The U.S. side raised a number of issues as well, including Taiwan, the cases of Americans imprisoned or unable to leave China, the role of Chinese suppliers in the U.S. fentanyl drug crisis, and unfair Chinese trade and commercial practices, as well as the human rights situation in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and elsewhere.

Mr. Blinken also raised U.S. concerns about China’s “dangerous and unlawful actions” in an Oct. 22 clash between Philippine and Chinese forces over a move by Manila to resupply a disputed outpost in the South China Sea.

According to the Chinese statement, Mr. Wang said there had been efforts on both sides to stabilize the relationship, arguing that “it is useful and necessary to maintain dialogue even as there are still various differences.”