China’s new foreign minister calls for ‘better’ ties with US

ISTANBUL

Before flying out of the US for his new post in Beijing, China’s new Foreign Minister Qing Gang has spoken to his American counterpart calling for a “better China-US relationship.”

In a farewell phone call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday as China’s outgoing ambassador in Washington, Qin wrote on Twitter: “I appreciate several candid, in-depth, and constructive meetings with him (Blinken) during my tenure.”

Called @SecBlinken to say goodbye. I appreciate several candid, in-depth and constructive meetings with him during my tenure. I look forward to continuing close working relations with him for a better China-US relationship.

— Qin Gang 秦刚 (@AmbQinGang) January 1, 2023

“I look forward to continuing close working relations with him for a better China-US relationship,” he told Blinken.

Meanwhile, Blinken also tweeted: “Spoke by phone this (Sunday) morning (US time) with incoming People's Republic of China Foreign Minister Qin Gang as he departs Washington for his new role. We discussed US-PRC (People’s Republic of China) relationship and maintaining open lines of communication.”

Qin, 56, will succeed State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, 69, as the foreign minister of the world’s largest populated nation and the second-largest global economy.

He has served as China’s ambassador to Washington since July 2021 amid tense relations between the world’s top two economies.

Earlier, he also served as a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry and was promoted to the deputy foreign minister position in 2018.

Meanwhile, Wang was appointed as the head of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) Central Committee after being elected as one of the 24 members of the Politburo of the party last year in October when President Xi Jinping got an unprecedented third term as its head.

The new CPC foreign affairs chief Wang wrote on Sunday in a party journal that China and the US “must pursue dialogue rather than confrontation and avoid the mistakes made during the Cold War.”

Pointing to multiple challenges, Wang said: “Over the past year, we have unremittingly explored the correct way for the two major countries of China and the United States to get along with each other.”

“The two countries should establish a way of getting along with mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation, and put China-US relations back on the right track of health and stability,” he added.