Beijing Tells US To Remove Sanctions, Tariffs

Beijing's top diplomat urged the United States on Monday to remove all unilateral sanctions and tariffs as well as "long-arm jurisdiction" against China as soon as possible, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi also said Washington should not harm's China's territorial integrity on matters involving Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet.

He emphasised in a meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman that the United States should not challenge, defame or try to overthrow China's system of socialism, the statement said.

Wang’s comments come after Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng urged the US to stop “demonising” China.

"The hope may be that by demonising China, the US could somehow... blame China for its own structural problems," the ministry wrote in a readout of the talks between Sherman and Xie.

"We urge the United States to change its highly misguided mindset and dangerous policy," the statement said, adding that the US views China as an "imagined enemy".

The ministry described relations as at a "stalemate" and facing "serious difficulties."

Sherman arrived in the city of Tianjin on Sunday, aiming to seek "guardrails" as ties between the world's top two economies continue to deteriorate on a range of issues from cybersecurity to human rights.

Last week, the United States rallied allies, including NATO, for a rare joint condemnation of the alleged large-scale cyber attacks coming from China. (Reuters/AFP)