(Source: Global Times, 2022-12-23)

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign  Minister Wang Yi had a phone conversation with US Secretary of State  Antony Blinken on Friday, during which Wang called on the US to stop its  old tricks of unilateral bullying and containing China's development. 

Analysts  said that the US needs to strengthen the credibility of its China  policy, control the negative factors and actively maintain the trend of  positive cooperation brought by the latest meeting between the heads of  state, which is in line with the interests of both China and the US as  well as the rest of the world.

Wang told Blinken in the phone  call that the two countries should focus on turning the consensus  reached by the top leaders into tangible policies and actions.

In  November, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with US President Joe Biden  in Bali, Indonesia, putting forward strategic guidance for bilateral  ties to return to a healthy track, and working teams from the two  countries also had a series of beneficial engagements. However, US  politicians have repeatedly smeared China's COVID-19 control policies,  suppressed China more vigorously on chip exports and increased arms  sales to China's Taiwan region. 

The US should not call for  dialogue while at the same time containing China, or talk about  cooperation but putting a knife in China… this is not managing disputes  but intensifying conflicts, Wang said.

Wang said that the US is  still doing its old trick of imposing unilateral bullying, and China  will continue to defend its sovereignty and development interests. The  US must pay attention to China's justified concerns and stop containing  China, and especially not challenge China's red line as if it were  slicing salami. 

Wang's remarks showed that China is expressing  its dissatisfaction over the US' saying one thing and doing another  in a more candid and frank way, Xin Qiang, deputy director of the Center  for American Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times on  Friday.

On December 6, the Biden administration signed off on two  new significant arms sales of more than $425 million in spare aircraft  parts to support Taiwan island's US-supplied weapons systems. Blinken  told Wang in the phone call that the US continues to uphold the  one-China policy and does not support Taiwan independence.

The  US previously made some provocations against China to gain so-called  bargaining chips before important visits and meetings. However, a  friendly atmosphere can only be created with efforts from both sides,  said Xin. 

Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of  International Relations at the China Foreign Affairs University, told  the Global Times that the phone call may be aimed at laying the  groundwork for a possible visit by Blinken to China early next year. 

During  the phone conversation, the Chinese side pointed out the status of  China-US relations, existing problems, plans for future relations and  concrete steps to realize these plans, Li said, adding that the phone  call shows the reality that China and the US have broad common interests  and space for cooperation. It also makes clear that the current crux in  China-US ties is Washington's unilateral bullying mentality.

Wang's  remarks show that China is willing to shoulder its historical  responsibility and handle China-US relations in a responsible manner.  However, US policy toward China lacks consistency and credibility, which  is why Wang was being tough in reminding Blinken, experts said.

Wang  and Blinken's conversation took place on the same day that China  imposed sanctions on Yu Maochun, known as Miles Yu in the US, and Todd  Stein, deputy staff director of the US Congressional-Executive  Commission on China, as countermeasures to illegal US sanctions placed  on two Chinese officials on December 9.

China will freeze all  Chinese assets of both Yu and Stein, and ban any organization or  individual within China from engaging with them. Both men and their  immediate family members are also banned from entering China, according  to the Foreign Ministry statement. 

According to Li, China's  sanction against Yu and Stein as countermeasures ahead of the  Wang-Blinken call serves as a reminder to Blinken to do more for the  benefit of China-US relations, not the opposite.

The Chinese  government will not tolerate anyone who undermines China-US relations or  undermines China's major interests, nor can the US seek cooperation  with China while at the same time harming China's interests, Li said.

Together  with former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo, Yu is believed to have  promoted a number of anti-China initiatives, such as advocating for  restrictions on visas to China, imposing trade sanctions, and spreading  conspiracy theories on the origins of COVID-19.

Wang told Blinken  that there should be a new atmosphere for the new year. People in both  China and the US and the world are hoping for China-US relations to stop  their downward spiral, and a zero-sum game mentality can only lead to  clashes between the two great powers.

Wang said the two countries  should explore the right way to get along with each other under the  direction pointed out by their top leaders and make the utmost efforts  for the benefit of Chinese and Americans and global peace and stability.