Blinken meets with Wang Yi in Rome, the two sides discussed over Taiwan issue.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Sunday in Rome, Italy, as the two countries traded discussed intensely over Taiwan issue, warning each other against steps that could further escalate tensions across the Taiwan Strait.

The meeting, which lasted about an hour at the hotel where the Chinese delegation was staying at the G20 summit, was the first face-to-face encounter between Mr. Blinken and Mr. Wang since a heated debate in Anchorage, Alaska, in March.

Blinken expressed concern about China’s actions that “undermine the rules-based international order and run counter to our values and interests and those of our Allies,” the State Department said in a statement, citing Human rights abuses in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, as well as Taiwan and the South China Sea.

While Sino-US relations are at a multi-year low, Blinken said the two countries could work together on issues such as North Korea, Iran, Myanmar, Afghanistan and climate.
Blinken also stressed the importance of keeping open lines of communication and said he wanted to responsibly manage the fierce competition between the world’s two largest economies.

China’s foreign ministry said in a statement that Mr. Wang had “expressed China’s serious concerns over various issues that harm China’s legitimate rights and interests” and demanded that the US change course and bring Sino-US relations back to the track of healthy development.

Wang Yi said it is misleading for the US to accuse China of changing the status quo on Taiwan, adding that the crux of the situation across the Taiwan Strait is “because the Taiwan authorities have repeatedly tried to break through the One-China framework” and that the US’s conniving support for “Taiwan independence” forces is “unforgivable”.

China regards Taiwan as part of its territory and calls any interference by any other country an interference in its internal affairs.

The Taiwan issue again dominated their meeting. Reuters quoted a senior US State Department official as saying Mr. Blinken had made it “very clear” during the talks that Washington opposed any unilateral change by Beijing to the status quo on Taiwan.
Chinese military aircraft have recently flown intensively into Taiwan’s southwest air defense Identification Zone. Taiwan said nearly 100 Chinese military aircraft rattled the island in three days in early October, breaking a record. Last week, Taiwan’s president Tsai Ing-wen confirmed for the first time that US troops were on the island to assist with military training, drawing fresh criticism and warnings from Beijing.

The U.S. does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but Washington is the island’s most important international ally and arms supplier. Under the Taiwan Relations Act, the United States will provide Taiwan with defense materials and technology to ensure that Taiwan can maintain an adequate self-defense capability.

Washington has long had a policy of ‘strategic ambiguity,’ reserving judgment on whether the U.S. would intervene militarily to defend Taiwan if China attacked, but President Joe Biden said last week the U.S. would do so if necessary.