WASHINGTON: The United States and the European Union on Thursday expressed strong concern over China's "problematic and unilateral actions" in the South and East China Seas and the Taiwan Strait. The joint statement followed talks in Washington between US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and the Secretary General of the European External Action Service, Stefano Sannino.
The statement, issued after the second meeting of the US-EU Dialogue on China, "emphasized the importance of the United States and EU maintaining continuous and close contacts on our respective approaches as we invest and grow our economies, cooperate with China where possible, and manage our competition and systemic rivalry with China responsibly."
It said the two sides discussed rights abuses in China, including repression of religious minorities in Xinjiang and Tibet and the erosion of autonomy in Hong Kong. It said they expressed their readiness to deepen US-EU information sharing on disinformation sponsored or supported by China.
"They expressed strong concern over China’s problematic and unilateral actions in the South and East China Seas and the Taiwan Strait that undermine peace and security in the region and have a direct impact on the security and prosperity of both the United States and European Union," the statement added.
Sherman and Sannino are due to continue their China-related discussions with high-level consultations on the Indo-Pacific on Friday.
The administration of US President Joe Biden has stressed the importance of working closely with allies and partners in pushing back against China's growing power and increasingly assertive behavior worldwide.
A US official briefing ahead of the talks said the United States and the European Union have an "increasingly convergent" view of China's "concerning behavior."
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