CHINA and the United States agreed on Saturday to keep open lines of communication between the two nations, to guard against any misunderstanding.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met for roughly an hour and 20 minutes on the sidelines of the annual Association of South East Asian Nations summit in Vientiane, Laos.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement that despite regular contacts, “the US has not stopped its containment and suppression of China and has even further intensified it.”

The statement said that the risks to China-US ties “are still accumulating and the challenges are also rising” and that “it is necessary to constantly calibrate the direction, manage risks, properly handle differences, eliminate disturbance and promote co-operation.”

The Chinese expressed hope that the US can improve its understanding of China, which “is a nation focused on pursuing happiness for its people and its rejuvenation, and committed to the path of peaceful development and building a community with a shared future for mankind.”

China’s foreign minister used the meeting to warn the US against its continued interference in the domestic affairs of China in Taiwan.

He reminded Mr Blinken that Taiwan is part of China and has not been and will never be a country. 

He told Mr Blinken that “Taiwan independence” runs counter to cross-Strait peace, he said, saying that every provocation made by the “Taiwan independence” forces will be met with countermeasures aimed at achieving the goal of complete unification.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller described the discussion between Mr Wang and Mr Blinken as “open and productive” but they had not reached any significant agreements on the issues that divide them most in the Indo-Pacific, Europe and the Americas.

According to Mr Miller, Mr Blinken told Mr Wang: “The US will continue to take necessary actions to safeguard our interests and values and those of our allies and partners.”