As tensions simmer, China demands US action to improve ties

BEIJING (AP) — China’s top diplomat has called on the U.S. to take steps to improve ties, as tensions simmer over Taiwan, trade and other issues. Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s remarks on Monday were delivered virtually to a forum marking the 50th anniversary of the Shanghai Communique signed during the icebreaking 1972 visit to China by President Richard Nixon. That trip led to the U.S. and China establishing diplomatic relations. Wang urged Washington to “reinstate a reasonable and pragmatic China policy” and work with China to put their relations on track. Forum participant Jacob Lew, a former U.S. treasury secretary, says bilateral relations “will only become more strained in the absence of a clear choice to stand with international law.”