Beijing slams US before top diplomat’s key visit

China and the international community have the responsibility to teach the US a lesson on how to treat other countries equally, senior diplomat Wang Yi said, just ahead of the visit of deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman to China beginning Sunday.

State councillor and foreign minister Wang made the remarks at the third round of China-Pakistan foreign ministers’ strategic dialogue with counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi held in Chengdu, China’s Sichuan province on Friday. Wang’s comment, according to Chinese official media, was in response to US state department spokesperson Ned Price’s statement that Sherman’s discussions in China will be held from a “position of strength”.

“The US has always put pressure on others with its self-claimed strengths in a condescending manner,” Wang was quoted as saying in the state media. “But I want to tell the US side that there is never a country that is superior to others, and there shouldn’t be one.”

Much of the focus will be on Sherman’s two-day visit and talks in Tianjin, a port city some 100km from Beijing.

It will be the first face-to-face talks between Washington and Beijing in months as the two negotiate acrimonious ties.

Ahead of her visit, US officials told reporters in Washington that Sherman will tell Beijing that while Washington welcomes competition, it wants to ensure that ties do not veer into conflict. “She’s going to underscore that we do not want that stiff and sustained competition to veer into conflict,” a Reuters report from Washington quoted a US official as saying.

“The US wants to ensure that there are guardrails and parameters in place to responsibly manage the relationship,” the official said. “Everyone needs to play by the same rules and on a level playing field.”