News - Middle East: Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang has demanded from the US to respect its core concerns, such as the Taiwan issue, if it wants to restore strained ties between the two countries.

Qin told his US counterpart Antony Blinken in a phone conversation on Wednesday to respect China’s “core concerns,” stop interfering in the country's internal affairs, and stop harming its sovereignty, security and development in the name of competition, according to the readout of the call released by the Chinese foreign ministry.
The top Chinese diplomat further noted that Sino-US ties had “encountered new difficulties and challenges” since the beginning of the year and that the two sides had a responsibility to work together to properly manage differences and stabilize relations.
“I hope that the US side will take practical actions to implement the important consensus of the meeting between the two heads of state in Bali, move in the same direction as the Chinese side, effectively manage differences, promote exchanges and cooperation, and promote the stabilization of China-US relations,” Qin said as quoted in the foreign ministry's statement.
Ahead of the G20 Summit in Indonesia last December, China's President Xi Jinping told his US counterpart Joe Biden the issue of Taipei is Beijing's “first red line” in bilateral relations, vowing that Washington must not cross the line.
For his part, Blinken reiterated the need for communication “to avoid miscalculation and conflict” and said the US would continue to raise areas of concern as well as potential cooperation with China, according to the US State Department's readout of the phone call.
The high-profile discussion comes ahead of a planned visit to Beijing by the US secretary of state. If Blinken’s trip goes ahead, it will be the first visit to China by Washington’s top diplomat in five years
Blinken cancelled a visit to Beijing in February after Washington alleged earlier in the year that a Chinese spy balloon flew over the country before it was shot down by the American military.