Washington says it “does not act on behalf of the US government” after Li refused a meeting with Austin
July 19 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu has received by surprise the diplomat and former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who is visiting Beijing, just a month after Li himself refused to meet his US counterpart. , Lloyd Austin.
Li said during the meeting that “the reality of interdependence” between China and the United States “was ignored,” that “the reality of mutually beneficial cooperation was distorted,” and that “the atmosphere of friendly communication was destroyed,” according to a statement published by the Chinese Ministry of Defense through its website.
“Some people in the United States did not meet China halfway, which has caused Sino-US relations to fall to their lowest level since the establishment of diplomatic relations,” he said, before adding that Beijing “has always been committed to building stable, predictable and constructive bilateral relations”.
Thus, he has shown his desire that “the United States work with China to apply the consensus reached by the two heads of state and jointly promote a healthy and stable development of relations between the two countries and their two armies”, while stressed that “today’s world is marked by turmoil and changes are accelerating, which is why society is facing unprecedented challenges”.
“People of all countries hope that China and the United States will shoulder the responsibilities of being great countries, play a leading role, and keep global prosperity and stability together. The path of peaceful development that China is pursuing is a blessing for the world, not a disaster”, he explained.
For this reason, Li has asserted that “the United States should have corrected its strategic judgments” and has abounded that “the future of the world will be better only if the emerging countries and the developed countries live in peace and develop together.”
On the other hand, the note states that Kissinger has presented himself as “a friend of China” and has argued that “challenges and opportunities coexist in today’s world.” Thus, he would have demanded that Washington and China “eliminate misunderstandings, coexist peacefully and avoid confrontation.”
“History and practice have continually shown that neither the United States nor China can afford to treat the other as an adversary. If both countries go to war, this will not produce significant results for either of the two peoples,” Kissinger, who He has asked both sides for “wisdom” and “work together.”
Lastly, the former Secretary of State and Nobel Peace Prize winner pointed out that the armies of both powers “should strengthen communications and do everything possible to develop bilateral relations”, which would lead to “positive results to maintain the world peace and stability”, always according to the note published by the Chinese Ministry of Defense.
NOT ACTING ON BEHALF OF WASHINGTON
Given the information about Kissinger’s trip to China, the spokesman for the US State Department, Matthew Miller, has indicated that Washington “was aware” of the displacement and has stressed that “he is there of his own free will and not acting on behalf of the Government of the United States”.
Miller has explained that Kissinger’s trip was announced during Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent trip to China. “The Chinese authorities mentioned that (Kissinger) was planning a trip, as he has done several times over the years as a private citizen,” he revealed.
Along these lines, he has stressed that he “does not know” if there will be conversations with Miller later. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he reports on his conversations at some point. He has done this several times over the last few decades, I think. I wouldn’t be surprised if he does at some point, but I’m not aware of any planned conversations,” he said. underlined.
On the other hand, Miller has specified that Kissinger would not be violating the sanctions imposed against Li by Washington by meeting with him. “In fact, we have said that we believe that our Secretary of Defense could meet with the sanctioned (Chinese) Defense Minister and that it would be appropriate for him to do so,” Miller added during his daily press conference.
Kissinger’s trip to China coincides with the trip to the Asian giant by the United States’ special presidential envoy for Climate and former US Secretary of State, John Kerry, and comes about a month after Blinken’s own trip to Beijing. to meet with the Chinese authorities.
Likewise, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently traveled to China, in a series of diplomatic efforts to stabilize relations between the two countries, deteriorated mainly by tensions over the status of Taiwan and the demolition at the beginning of the year of a alleged Chinese balloon over US airspace.
