US has a wrong perception of China, says foreign minister

The U.S. continues to hold the wrong perception of China and has yet to fulfill its promises despite some progress since presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met last November, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday.

Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of an annual parliament meeting in Beijing, Wang said exchanges between both countries can only continue if both sides respect and recognize their differences.

"We have to point out that the United States continues to have a wrong perception of China and has not fulfilled the  promises it made," Wang said at the National People's Congress. The U.S. has kept coming out with new ways to suppress China, he said.

Tensions between the two superpowers have slightly eased since Biden and Xi staged their landmark summit in San Francisco last November, but they remain in an uneasy detente ahead of the U.S. election this year which could see China hawk Donald Trump return to the White House.

Washington has repeatedly stated its desire to put a floor under the relationship after it spiralled to its worst in decades last year over issues including Taiwan, tech competition, trade and an alleged Chinese spy balloon shot down by the U.S. off its east coast.

China alleges the U.S. is trying to contain and suppress its high-tech development and industrial policy.

Beijing also faces ongoing geopolitical confrontations on multiple fronts, including with Europe on trade and the Ukraine war, Japan on a variety of issues, and the Philippines over the South China Sea, a regional hotbed of competing territorial claims. 

Reuters