An official with the Chinese embassy called on the U.S. on Wednesday to lift sanctions against Beijing in order to reopen high-level military talks between the two superpowers.
“The US side knows the reason for difficulties in its military-to-military relations with China,” spokesperson Liu Pengyu said at a briefing, according to Bloomberg. “It actually imposed unilateral sanctions on China.”
“Such obstacles should be removed before any exchange and cooperation could take place between the two countries,” Liu added.
Earlier this month, Chinese President Xi Jinping rejected Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s offer to set up a crisis communications line between the two countries during his visit to Beijing. In May, China also refused a meeting between the nations’ defense chiefs.
While it wasn’t immediately clear which sanctions Liu was referring to at Wednesday’s briefing, Chinese officials have previously pointed to sanctions against Chinese Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu for their refusal to engage with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Li has been the target of U.S. sanctions since 2018 over his purchase of warplanes and equipment from a Russian defense firm.
The U.S. has repeatedly pushed for “open lines of military-to-military communication” amid increasingly tense relations with China over issues like trade, Taiwan’s independence and a Chinese spy balloon that wandered into American airspace earlier this year.
Magicalsandwichpress on June 29th, 2023 at 23:03 UTC »
It does appear China is not too concern over mending ties with US. There have been great consistency between Trump and Biden presidency on China, and the tension has continued to build.
I personally don't believe the trust building exercise including Blinken's visit is useful. Neither is willing nor able to make meaningful concessions.
Despite rhetoric there is little chance of war, I am content to let it hit rock bottom and see where it lands.
TheGreenBehren on June 29th, 2023 at 20:06 UTC »
How about China removes their spies in academia stealing our research and then we can talk
Otherwise we don’t negotiate with terrorists
moses_the_red on June 29th, 2023 at 18:32 UTC »
China refuses to reopen military communications - risking accidental war with the United States - over chip sanctions.
This is notable for many reasons:
There have been many who claim that the sanctions aren't having any effect on China - clearly this is not the case. They're willing to risk accidental war over it. This shows that China is behaving in an unprofessional manner - refusing military communications and thus risking an accidental war. This shows that Blinken's visit, and the olive branch that the United States extended to China in slightly easing chip sanctions and re-affirming the "One China Principal" has failed.The world hurtles towards war, due to childish obstinance.
The US sanctions China due to its belligerent nature. China was - and still is - investing heavily in AI as a means of surmounting US power. This is alarming given that China is a totalitarian fascist state that heavily oppresses its people and aims to bully or conquer its neighbors if it achieves regional dominance.