Wang urges constructive interactions with U.S. in Asia-Pacific

Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi has said Beijing is ready to work with Washington to "explore constructive interaction in the Asia-Pacific" as the US prepares to host the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting this year.

Wang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, made the comments when meeting with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing on Monday.

Wang said hosting this year's APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting is an important opportunity for the U.S. to re-think and re-calibrate its Asia-Pacific policy.

China is ready to work with the U.S. to explore a way for constructive interaction in the Asia-Pacific, he said.

Beijing hopes the U.S. will play its role as host of APEC and work with China to "enable Asia-Pacific cooperation to return to the right direction", he added.

At the talks, Wang also stated China's position on the U.S. advancement of the so-called "Indo-Pacific Strategy".

Wang stressed the so-called "Indo-Pacific Strategy" is essentially about bringing major-country rivalry to the region and create camp-based confrontation.

U.S. actions have changed the status quo of peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific, undermined the way Asia-Pacific countries get along, distorted industrial and supply chains in the region and weakened the ASEAN-centered regional cooperation architecture, Wang warned.

The U.S. has turned away from an open and inclusive regional policy and is moving toward an exclusive and divisive one, he said, adding the U.S. runs counter to the overarching trend toward prosperity and development in the Asia-Pacific.