China’s foreign minister warns US not to cross its ‘red line’

Al Jazeera:

The United States must stop its “old routine of unilateral bullying”, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a telephone call.

Wang on Friday accused the US of trying to suppress China’s development. Washington must pay attention to Beijing’s legitimate concerns, he said, warning the US against trying to challenge China’s red lines using “salami slicing” tactics.

He was referring to the practice of using a series of small actions to achieve a much larger result that would be difficult to accomplish with a single large action.

The remarks by Wang underscored the deep tensions that mark relations between the world’s two largest economies, even as their leaders have tried to re-engage in diplomacy in recent weeks.

Chinese President Xi Jinping met US President Joe Biden at the G20 summit in Bali last month, where they discussed a number of hot-button issues, including Taiwan. It was their first in-person talk since 2017.

China considers Taiwan its own territory and believes the US is slowly chipping away at its core interests and challenging its bottom line while being careful to avoid a single drastic action that could give China a clear reason to react with full force.