China calls on US to change foreign policy in the region

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on the US on Monday to lift restrictions on trade and people-to-people contacts while ceasing what Beijing considers unwarranted interference in the areas of Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet.

Wang's comments at a Foreign Ministry forum on US-China relations come as Beijing is pressing the administration of President Joe Biden to drop many of the confrontational measures adopted by his predecessor Donald Trump.

He said the China-US relations ran into "the biggest difficulties since the establishment of the diplomatic ties" and the Trump administration was responsible for it.

"The root cause is the previous US administration, out of its own political needs, seriously distorted China's future path and policies, and on that basis too, various measures to suppress and contain China, which has caused immeasurable damage to the bilateral relations," Wang said.

Among those are pressure over trade and technology grievances that prompted Trump to hike tariffs on Chinese imports in 2017 and impose bans or other restrictions on Chinese tech companies and academic exchanges.

Trump also upgraded military and diplomatic ties with Taiwan, the self-governing island democracy claimed by China as its own territory, while sanctioning Chinese officials blamed for abuses against Muslim minorities in Xinjiang and a crackdown on freedoms in Hong Kong.

"We know that the new US administration is reviewing and assessing its foreign policy we hope that the U.S. policy makers will keep pace with the times, see clearly the trend of the world, abandon biases, give up unwarranted suspicions and move to bring the China policy back to reason to ensure a healthy steady development of China-U.S. relations," Wang told diplomats, scholars and journalists at the Lanting Forum.

China, Wang said, has "no intention to challenge or replace the United States."

"We are ready to have peaceful co-existence and seek common development with the United States," Wang said.

On trade, Wang said China would defend the rights of US companies while hoping the US would "adjust its policies as soon as possible, among others, remove unreasonable tariffs on Chinese goods, lift its unilateral sanctions on Chinese companies and research and educational institutes and abandon irrational suppression of China's technological progress."

The US should also lift restrictions on media, educational and people-to-people exchanges to reverse sharp declines in numbers of Chinese studying in the US and visits by Chinese for tourism or business, Wang said.

While Biden has pledged re-engagement and a more civil tone in US diplomacy, its unclear whether he will make any fundamental changes in Washington's policies toward Beijing.

China faces more opposition than ever in Washington due to its trade record, territorial disputes with neighbours, and accusations of technology theft and spying.

Taiwan enjoys strong bipartisan support, as do criticisms of China's human rights record, especially on Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet.