The US must lift unilateral sanctions on Beijing to normalize ties between the two countries’ militaries, Chinese Embassy spokesman in Washington Liu Pengyu said at a briefing on Wednesday.
“The US side knows the reason for the difficulties in its military relations with China: it has actually imposed unilateral sanctions on China,” Liu was quoted as saying by Bloomberg. “Such obstacles must be removed before exchanges and cooperation between the two countries can take place,” he added.
In addition, the spokesman criticized the US for sending its ships and planes into waters and airspace near China under the pretext of freedom of navigation or overflight. “They’ve been navigating, reconnaissance, muscle flexing, it’s not about freedom of navigation,” he said.
According to Liu, Beijing firmly “opposes acts that undermine China’s sovereignty and security under the pretext of freedom of navigation or overflight.” “Therefore, the Chinese military responded in accordance with laws and regulations. “His actions were entirely professional, legitimate and justifiable,” he concluded.
In early May, the Pentagon said it wanted to maintain “open lines of communication” with Chinese military leaders, blaming Beijing for the standoff. It decided to “ignore, deny, or deny several requests for high-level communications from the US.” ” Meanwhile, Liu noted that “communication should not be for the sake of communication.”
“We call on the US side to show sincerity, work with China and take concrete steps to create the necessary conditions and climate for communication and help get China-US relations back on track.” take away,” he explained.