US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his Chinese counterpart that it was important for Beijing to be transparent about a growing COVID-19 outbreak, as questions mount about whether Chinese officials are trying to downplay the number of deaths.
In a call with Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅), Blinken “discussed the current COVID-19 situation, and the secretary underscored the importance of transparency for the international community,” US Department of State spokesman Ned Price said in a statement on Thursday in Washington.
A statement from China’s Foreign Ministry on the call did not mention the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the two sides discussed issues related to Ukraine and Taiwan.
Photo: AFP
China is grappling with mounting COVID-19 cases after moving quickly to dismantle Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) “zero COVID-19” policy.
That followed a rare burst of unrest from citizens objecting to the virus curbs as well as indicators showing a worsening economic outlook.
The US Department of State expressed worries earlier this week that a runaway outbreak in China could have global implications by spawning new variants of the virus.
China has only reported a handful of deaths since it started lifting some of the world’s strictest pandemic restrictions, which have included city-wide lockdowns and mandatory quarantine and isolation.
The country could be seeing more than 5,000 deaths per day, London-based research firm Airfinity Ltd said.
Overall US-China relations remain tense even after Xi and US President Joe Biden agreed last month to restart dialogue in a number of areas during a meeting at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. Since then, the Biden administration has continued to hit China with export restrictions on advanced semiconductors and chipmaking equipment.
Earlier on Thursday, Blinken said the US was prepared to help China with vaccines to address its burgeoning outbreak, but added that the government in Beijing so far has not asked for assistance.
“We want to see China get this outbreak under control,” he said.
Chinese embassy in the US spokesman Liu Pengyu (劉鵬宇) said in a statement that China’s vaccine stock “can generally meet demand” and boosters were being rolled out.
Officials dealing with COVID-19 in China would remain in communication with US counterparts, Liu added.
“China is ready to continue working with the international community to meet the COVID challenge, better protect people’s lives and health, revitalize world economic growth and build a global community of health for all,” Liu said.
Blinken, who met Xi alongside Biden last month, is scheduled to visit Beijing early next year to follow up on the summit as part of the highest-level US trip there since then-US secretary of state Mike Pompeo visited in 2018.
Blinken also expressed concern to Wang about Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the need to keep open lines of communication between US and Chinese officials, the US statement said.
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