By An Gang

On July 26， visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman met with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng， respectively， in Tianjin. They were further diplomatic engagements between the two countries since their high-level strategic dialogue in Anchorage， the U.S.， in March.

Ground rules

In Anchorage， responding to the apparent U.S. sense of self-importance， China adhered to the standards of equal-footing diplomacy. During the Tianjin meetings， it further created a set of rules for the U.S. to abide by when dealing with bilateral ties.

Wang told Sherman that China is firmly opposed to President Joe Bidens administrations continuation of its predecessors extreme and erroneous China policy. He underlined three basic demands for the U.S.， namely， not to challenge， slander or even attempt to subvert the path and system of socialism with Chinese characteristics； not to attempt to obstruct or interrupt Chinas development process； and not to infringe upon Chinas state sovereignty， or damage Chinas territorial integrity.

“We have a clear idea where China-U.S. relations are headed； that is， to find a way for two major countries featuring different systems， cultures and stages of development to coexist peacefully on this planet through dialogue，” Wang said.

During his four-hour talks with Sherman， Xie criticized the condescending manner of dealing with China from “a position of strength” on the part of the U.S. He also refuted baseless U.S. accusations against China over issues related to diplomatic strategy， COVID-19 pandemic origin tracing， Xinjiang， Hong Kong and cyber security.

The vice minister then put forward two lists， one of the U.S. wrongdoings that must stop and the other of the key individual cases that China has concerns with.

On her way to China， Sherman told reporters that guardrails must be in place to ensure that the U.S. and China do not get off-track and end up in conflict. Xie emphasized that the establishment of such guardrails must follow the principles of equality and mutual benefit.

During her meeting with Wang， Sherman said the U.S. does not seek to contain Chinas development， and hopes that both countries will develop healthy competition， achieve peaceful coexistence， and cooperate on climate change， drug control， and international and regional hotspot issues， according to Xinhua News Agency. She reiterated that the U.S. abides by the one-China policy and does not support “Taiwan independence.”