Stop the meddling: China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi to US secretary of state Mike Pompeo

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Photo: AFP. Sketched by the Pan Pacific Agency.

HONOLULU, Jun 19, 2020, The Standard. China is determined to press on with national security legislation for Hong Kong, top diplomat Yang Jiechi told US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a rare high-level talk in Honolulu, The Standard reported.

The world’s two largest economies have been at loggerheads over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic and China’s move to impose national security legislation on Hong Kong.

In the seven-hour meeting described as “constructive” by the foreign ministry, Yang told Pompeo that Washington needs to respect Beijing’s positions on key issues, halt its interference on matters such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Xinjiang, and work to repair relations.

Earlier, foreign ministers of the G7 countries, including Pompeo, issued a joint statement calling on China not to follow through with the Hong Kong legislation, which critics call an assault on the territory’s democratic freedoms.

“China resolutely opposes the words and deeds of the US side interfering in Hong Kong affairs and resolutely opposes the statement made by the G7 foreign ministers on Hong Kong-related issues,” the ministry quoted Yang saying.

Pompeo stressed “the need for fully reciprocal dealings between the two nations,” US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said.

“He also stressed the need for full transparency and information-sharing to combat the ongoing pandemic and prevent future outbreaks.”

Just as Pompeo met Yang, US President Donald Trump signed into law an act that authorizes sanctions for mainland officials involved in the detention of a million Uygurs and other Turkic Muslims.

Beijing quickly responded that the law “maliciously attacks” China and threatened consequences.

Wu Xinbo, dean of the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, said the meeting could reduce “microphone diplomacy” between the two bickering sides, but said he was doubtful it would stabilize relations. He added: “Trump will continue to criticize China in the lead-up to the US elections.”

Pompeo has been forceful in his criticism of Beijing. It was his first known contact with Yang since they discussed the coronavirus by phone on April 15, and their first face-to-face meeting since last year.

Meanwhile, a former United Nations special rapporteur to Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, has called on UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres to appoint an envoy or rapporteur to Hong Kong.

The conflict between the Chinese authorities and Hong Kong’s citizens will continue to escalate, she wrote. “The UN should not wait until all that is left to be done is clean the blood off the streets.”

A rapporteur focuses on exposing human rights violations, while an envoy may help advance a solution, she said.

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