China, US can achieve ‘great things’, says Beijing foreign minister

BEIJING: China´s foreign minister said on Tuesday that Beijing and Washington can achieve “many great things” if they work together, ahead of next month´s inauguration of president-elect Donald Trump.

But top diplomat Wang Yi also warned against what he called the US´ “crude interference” on the issue of Taiwan.

The world´s two largest economies have butted heads on a range of issues in recent years, from trade and technology to human rights and China´s growing assertiveness towards the self-ruled island of Taiwan.

Wang said China´s policy towards the United States “has not changed” during a Tuesday address in Beijing that reflected on the country´s diplomatic work in the past year and its expectations for the future.

He said that economic working groups and cooperation on cross-border drug control “fully prove that as long as China and the United States cooperate, we can accomplish many great things”.

He also, however, repeated a warning over Taiwan, saying Beijing “resolutely opposed illegal and unreasonable suppression by the United States, especially its crude interference in China´s internal affairs” including the status of the self-ruled island.

“We must take a firm and strong response, resolutely defend our own legitimate rights and interests, and safeguard the basic norms of international relations,” Wang said.

The China-US relationship may sour further after Trump is inaugurated on January 20, with the president-elect vowing more tariffs to punish what he calls unfair trade practices by China -- something Beijing firmly denies.