China Urges ‘Practical’ US Action on Sanctions After Yellen Talks 

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reacts as she leaves a press conference at the US Embassy in Beijing, China, 09 July 2023. (EPA)
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reacts as she leaves a press conference at the US Embassy in Beijing, China, 09 July 2023. (EPA)
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China Urges ‘Practical’ US Action on Sanctions After Yellen Talks 

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reacts as she leaves a press conference at the US Embassy in Beijing, China, 09 July 2023. (EPA)
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reacts as she leaves a press conference at the US Embassy in Beijing, China, 09 July 2023. (EPA)

China on Monday called on the US to take "practical action" in response to its "major concerns" about sanctions on Chinese firms, after US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wrapped up more than 10 hours of meetings with senior officials in Beijing.

China agreed to "maintain high-level exchanges and communication at all levels in the economic field", its finance ministry said in a statement.

But China also "required" the US to "cease the suppression of Chinese enterprises, lift bans on Xinjiang-related products, and take concrete steps to respond to China's major concerns in economic relations between the two countries" the ministry said.

The United States has imposed sanctions on some companies for using forced labor in the far-western region of Xinjiang.

Beijing denies the use of forced labor and any other abuses there.

The ministry said China believed its development was an opportunity rather than a risk to the US and that "strengthening cooperation between China and the United States is a realistic need and the correct choice of the two countries".

Yellen left Beijing on Sunday after a four-day visit, describing her bilateral meetings with senior Chinese officials as "direct, substantive and productive", sentiments echoed in China's summary of the talks.



‘Impossible’ for People’s Republic of China to Be Our Motherland, Taiwan President Says

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te visits Republic of China Military Academy, an officer training academy, for its 100th anniversary celebrations in Kaohsiung, Taiwan June 16, 2024. (Reuters)
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te visits Republic of China Military Academy, an officer training academy, for its 100th anniversary celebrations in Kaohsiung, Taiwan June 16, 2024. (Reuters)
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‘Impossible’ for People’s Republic of China to Be Our Motherland, Taiwan President Says

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te visits Republic of China Military Academy, an officer training academy, for its 100th anniversary celebrations in Kaohsiung, Taiwan June 16, 2024. (Reuters)
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te visits Republic of China Military Academy, an officer training academy, for its 100th anniversary celebrations in Kaohsiung, Taiwan June 16, 2024. (Reuters)

It is "impossible" for the People's Republic of China to become Taiwan's motherland because Taiwan has older political roots, the island's President Lai Ching-te said on Saturday.

Lai, who took office in May, is condemned by Beijing as a "separatist". He rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying that the island is a country called the Republic of China, which traces its origins back to the 1911 revolution that overthrew the last imperial dynasty.

The republican government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong's communists who set up the People's Republic of China, which continues to claim the island as its "sacred" territory.

Speaking at a concert ahead of Taiwan's national day celebrations on Oct. 10, Lai noted that the People's Republic had celebrated its 75th anniversary on Oct. 1, and in a few days it would be the Republic of China's 113th birthday.

"Therefore, in terms of age, it is absolutely impossible for the People's Republic of China to become the 'motherland' of the Republic of China's people. On the contrary, the Republic of China may be the motherland of the people of the People's Republic of China who are over 75 years old," Lai added, to applause.

"One of the most important meanings of these celebrations is that we must remember that we are a sovereign and independent country," he said.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not answer calls seeking comment outside of office hours.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a speech on the eve of his country's national day, reiterated his government's view that Taiwan was its territory.

Lai, who will give his own keynote national day address on Oct. 10, has needled Beijing before with historical references.

Last month, Lai said that if China's claims on Taiwan were about territorial integrity, then it should also take back land from Russia signed over by the last Chinese dynasty in the 19th century.