WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo satisfied China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, in Hawaii on Wednesday in what Beijing referred to as a “positive dialogue,” amidst a deep wear and tear of ties between tactical rivals that are the world’s two leading economies.
FILE PICTURE: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right, speaks as Chinese Communist Party Office of Foreign Affairs Director Yang Jiechi listens as the 2 nations hold a joint news conference after participating in a second diplomatic and security meeting at the U.S. Department of State, Washington, U.S., November 9,2018 REUTERS/Leah Millis
The nations have been at loggerheads over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic and China’s relocate to enforce brand-new security legislation on Hong Kong, amongst the current flare-ups in years of intensifying stress.
In the conference, Pompeo stressed “the need for fully-reciprocal transactions in between the two countries across commercial, security, and diplomatic interactions,” U.S. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus stated in a statement.
” He likewise stressed the need for full openness and details sharing to combat the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and avoid future outbreaks.”
Beijing said the two sides accepted continue engagement.
” Both sides fully articulated their countries’ particular positions, and think that this was a constructive discussion. Both sides consented to do something about it to carry out the agreement reached by leaders of both countries,” China’s Xinhua news company stated.
The meeting in Honolulu began shortly a