US dismisses China diplomatic gestures as ‘nothing but words’
China’s latest call for dialogue with the United States is “nothing but words,” according to a senior State Department official who faulted Beijing for continuing to aggravate relations with Washington. “We’re happy to have a discussion, but it can’t be just talks,” State Department Assistant Secretary David Stilwell, who leads the East Asian and Pacific Affairs Bureau, told reporters Thursday. "It has to be action.” That comment rebuffed a senior Chinese diplomat who suggested that envoys from both countries need to meet in order to prevent the U.S.-China rivalry from “spiraling out of control.” Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng opened the door to such a meeting after months of diplomatic outbursts from Beijing, where the truculence of the Chinese Foreign Ministry has been matched by military saber-rattling and a crackdown in Hong Kong. “The formula I use on that, it’s all about building trust, right?” Stilwell said while discussing Le’s remarks. “Words/talk times, deeds/action equals trust. But right now, we’ve got nothing but words and — but no action taken to address our fundamental concerns with where this relationship is going.”
The frank expressions of frustration on both sides, accompanied by Chinese and American shows of force in the South China Sea, has stoked fear that the two militaries might stumble into a violent confrontation. Le seemed to acknowledge those misgivings when declaring himself “ready for talks with my U.S. counterpart at any time,” as he put it in an interview with state-run media. “The next few months will be critical,” Le said. “We must stay focused without being swayed by any extreme forces, keep to the right direction of the bilateral relationship, and prevent it from spiraling out of control or getting derailed.” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo flew to Hawaii for a June meeting with the Chinese Communist Party’s director of foreign affairs, Yang Jiechi, but the conversation failed to alleviate any tensions. “Overall, given all the current circumstances with the relationship, the PRC side could not be described as really forthcoming,” Stilwell said at the time. ”The U.S. side went to great effort to provide an environment for candid and productive discussions.”
The months since that meeting have seen Pompeo make an increasingly explicit effort to rally a coalition of democratic nations, especially in Europe and in the Indo-Pacific region, to counter what the U.S. sees as Beijing’s “neo-imperial” ambitions. Beijing insists that American officials have made “a fundamental, strategic miscalculation,” as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi put it recently, and even Le denounced the Trump administration prior to calling for dialogue. “They lie readily,” he said while complaining about recent U.S. pressure on Chinese social media companies and American sanctions over the repression of Uighur Muslims. “Do not lie — that is the most basic norm for the general public, let alone key government officials and senior diplomats.” Stilwell maintained that China has no confusion about how to ease tensions. “Our demands are very clear,” he said. “They understand what they are. They have not taken steps to address them.”
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/us-dismisses-china-diplomatic-gestures-as-nothing-but-words
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