TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Politburo Member Yang Jiechi on Wednesday (June 17) in Honolulu to exchange views on U.S.-China relations.
State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus released a three-sentence statement saying Pompeo “stressed important American interests and the need for full-reciprocal dealings with the two nations across commercial, security, and diplomatic interactions.”
Ortagus added the secretary of state also “stressed the need for full transparency and information sharing to combat the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and prevent future outbreaks.”
China’s state news agency Xinhua said of the meeting that both sides “fully elaborated on their stances, agreeing that this was a constructive dialogue,” NPR reported. According to Xinhua, both officials agreed to communicate further.
A statement from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Yang told Pompeo that cooperation was “the only correct choice for both sides.” It went on to say, “China is committed to working with the United States to develop a relationship featuring non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect, and win-win cooperation.”
According to the Foreign Ministry, Yang pushed back on several areas of recent friction between the two countries. Concerning Taiwan, Yang repeated China’s stock response of, “There is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China.”
Yang also said that Hong Kong's affairs were an internal matter, and urged the U.S. to respect China’s sovereignty. The statement said that Yang also expressed displeasure with Donald Trump’s signing of the Uighur Human Rights Policy Act on Wednesday.
The bill passed both houses of Congress in May and could lead to sanctions against Chinese officials deemed responsible for human rights abuses against ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang, NPR reported.
