US State Secretary, Mike Pompeo met China’s Foreign Policy Chief, Yang Jiechi in Hawaii on Wednesday (17/6) for rare negotiations held amid increasingly heated conflicts.
The two largest economic powers in the world are in a matter of various issues, ranging from coronavirus pandemic problems, Chinese steps to implementing security legislation in Hong Kong, the issue of territories in the South China Sea to trade war. Amid the global Covid-9 pandemic, China and the United States of America are mutually accused about the origins of Corona viruses. Americans accuse the Corona virus derived from the Wuhan Virology laboratory, either created or leaked from there. Meanwhile, China accuses Corona viruses were created in America and brought to Wuhan by military personnel.
China and the United States also face the risk of increasing conflict in the South China Sea. To avoid this, both sides should be able to manage the crisis like when their warship was in an adjacent location. It is difficult to determine exactly when the U.S. and Chinese relations began to deteriorate, but the conflict in the South China Sea was one of the earliest conflicts that occurred.
A Chinese military source said that in an April incident, ships from both countries were adjacent to 100 meters. Such incidents show a lack of political confidence between the two militaries. This source was quoted by the South China Morning Post.
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry in a statement reported by Reuters, Washington needed to respect Beijing's position in major matters, stop intervention on China’s domestic issues, such as Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Taiwan, and start working to improve relations. While the U.S. State Department Spokesman, Morgan Ortagus in a statement emphasized the need for a reciprocal relationship between the two countries.
The U.S. and Chinese relations often experienced ups and downs. But nowadays, the relations are increasingly worsening. It's a little hard to guess how or when this feud will come to an end. Without the goodwill and intention of the two countries to settle their problems peacefully, the circumstances will not improve. Indeed, as parts of the world community, both of them should realize that the conflict between the world's two largest economies must bring about an impact on other countries.