Blinken: China should not hold global concerns ‘hostage’

The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that China should not hold talks on important global matters such as the climate crisis “hostage,” after Beijing cut off contacts with Washington in retaliation for US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan earlier this week, Report informs, citing AP News.

Blinken spoke in an online news conference with his Philippine counterpart in Manila after meeting newly elected President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and other top officials, as relations between Washington and Beijing plummeted to their worst level in years.

“We should not hold hostage cooperation on matters of global concern because of differences between our two countries,” Blinken said. “Others are rightly expecting us to continue to work on issues that matter to the lives and livelihood of their people as well as our own.”

He cited cooperation on climate change as a key area where China shut down contact that “doesn’t punish the United States — it punishes the world.”