US, China foreign ministers speak uneasy words at joint presser

Beijing, Oct 9: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi did not hide their concerns against each other's country on Monday, October 7, during the former's brief visit to the Chinese capital.

The US and China are amid a bad trade tussle with none ready to blink first. The dispute has left an alarming impact on global trade. Besides, the two countries have also had diplomatic irritants over issues like North Korea and Taiwan.

While the exchange between the two diplomats featured pleasantries and the need to cooperate, their words before the media before the beginning of the meeting at Beijing's Diaoyutai State Guest House were far from assuring.

At a joint appearance with his American counterpart, Wang said: "Recently, as the U.S. side has been constantly escalating trade friction toward China, it has also adopted a series of actions on the Taiwan issue that harm China's rights and interests, and has made groundless criticism of China's domestic and foreign policies."

"We believe this has been a direct attack on our mutual trust, and has cast a shadow on China-U.S. relations. We demand that the U.S. side stop this kind of mistaken action."

When his turn came, Pompeo said: "The issues that you characterised, we have a fundamental disagreement."

"We have great concerns about the actions that China has taken, and I look forward to having the opportunity to discuss each of those today because this is an incredibly important relationship," he said.