Inset: Joe Biden speaking on Friday about the threat posed by China. China's top diplomat called yesterday for US President Joe Biden's administration to lift curbs on trade and people-to-people contacts while ceasing what Beijing considers interference on Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet. While Biden has pledged re-engagement and a more civil tone in US diplomacy, it is unclear whether he will make any fundamental changes in policies toward Beijing. On trade, Wang said China would defend the rights of US firms while hoping the US would "remove unreasonable tariffs on Chinese goods, lift its unilateral sanctions on Chinese companies and research and educational institutes and abandon irrational suppression of China's technological progress." The US should also lift curbs on media, educational and people-to-people exchanges to reverse sharp declines in numbers of Chinese studying in the US and visits by Chinese for tourism or business, Wang said.

Source: The Standard February 22, 2021 19:07 UTC