Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged Washington to approach Taiwan-related issues with “utmost caution” during a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The conversation between the two officials took place on July 1.
Wang said China and the United States should continue working toward building “constructive strategic stability” in order to translate the agreements reached by the two countries’ leaders in Beijing in May into practical policy. According to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wang placed particular emphasis on Taiwan, noting that even a small move related to the issue could affect the overall situation.
According to Reuters, the call followed a meeting held in Beijing in mid-May between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump. Since that meeting, Taiwan has remained one of the key issues in China-U.S. relations.
As of July 2, Washington has not issued an official comment on this specific phone call. However, in June, Marco Rubio told a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing that U.S. policy toward Taiwan had not changed and that Washington supports maintaining the existing status quo.
On the same day, Taiwan’s Coast Guard said Taiwanese vessels should not comply with possible inspection or boarding requests from China’s Coast Guard. According to Taipei, Taiwan’s Coast Guard vessels would intervene if necessary, as China has no jurisdiction in Taiwan’s waters.
The phone call shows that Beijing views Taiwan not only as a bilateral dispute, but also as a defining factor for the stability of China-U.S. relations. Against this backdrop, continued communication between the two sides remains one of the key mechanisms for managing tensions.
