CHINA’S foreign minister told the US ambassador today that Washington is responsible for the downturn in relations between the two countries and must “reflect deeply” before ties can return to a more healthy track.

The comments by Qin Gang follow a suspension of any serious high level dialogue between the world’s two largest economies.

China’s Foreign Ministry quoted Mr Qin as telling Ambassador Nicholas Burns that a “series of erroneous words and deeds by the US” since a meeting in November between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping “have undermined the hard-won positive momentum of Sino-US relations.”

Mr Qin said: “The US side should reflect deeply, meet China halfway, and propel China-US relations out of the difficulties and get back on the right track.”

The US should “correct its understanding of China and return to rationality,” Mr Qin said, accusing the US of attempting to undermine his country. 

Mr Qin said ties had “grown icy” and the priority was to stabilise them “and avoid a downward spiral and unanticipated events.”

He said the US should stop “undermining China’s sovereignty, security and development interests,” particularly through its support of the regime in Taiwan.

The US officially recognises the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government of China and acknowledges that Taiwan is part of the country.

But it is also Taiwan’s largest supplier of military hardware and support.

President Biden has also repeatedly said that his country would back Taiwan militarily and the US has been upgrading basing arrangements with the Philippines, located just south of Taiwan.

In a tweet, Ambassador Burns said that he met with Mr Qin and “discussed challenges in the US-China relationship and the necessity of stabilising ties and expanding high-level communication.”