On June 11, 2021, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi had a phone conversation with the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the latter's request.

Yang Jiechi said, dialogue and cooperation should be the mainstream of China-U.S. relations. Cooperation should be mutually beneficial, and address the concerns of both sides in a balanced way. China is committed to developing a relationship with the U.S. featuring non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation. At the same time, China will firmly safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests. We urge the U.S. side to follow the spirit of the phone conversation between the two heads of state on the Chinese New Year's Eve, and to jointly bring bilateral relations back to the right track of development. The Taiwan question concerns China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and involves China's core interests. There is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inseparable part of China. China resolutely defends its national sovereignty and territorial integrity. We urge the U.S. to abide by the one-China principle, honor its promise and cherish its credibility, prudently and properly handle Taiwan-related issues, and maintain the overall situation of China-U.S. ties and the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait with concrete actions.

Yang Jiechi stressed, there is only one system and one order in the world: the international system with the United Nations (UN) at the core and the international order based on international law, instead of the so-called system and order advocated by a handful of countries. There is only one set of rules: the basic norms of international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, instead of the so-called rules formulated by a small number of countries. There is only one kind of multilateralism, which is genuine multilateralism based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter as well as international law, and featuring equal treatment, cooperation and mutual benefits, not pseudo-multilateralism based on interests of small cliques and group politics, letting alone practicing unilateralism in the name of multilateralism. Peace and development, fairness and justice, democracy and freedom are the common values of all humankind. Respect for sovereignty is a prerequisite for the realization of human rights, which is a principle affirmed by the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The U.S. should fix its serious human rights violations on its own territory, instead of wilfully interfering in the internal affairs of other countries with the so-called human rights as an excuse.

Yang Jiechi pointed out, China has actively participated in and supported international anti-virus cooperation, and it resolutely opposes any despicable acts that use the pandemic as an excuse to smear China and to shift blames. China is gravely concerned over some U.S. individuals fabricating and peddling the absurd story that Wuhan lab leaked the COVID-19 virus. China urges the U.S. to respect facts and science, restrain from politicizing COVID-19 origin tracing, and remain focused on international anti-pandemic cooperation.

Yang Jiechi said, China will celebrate the CPC's centenary. The Chinese people have scored great achievements under the strong leadership of the CPC, and they will unite more closely and work harder, firmly walk along the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, build China into a more prosperous country and realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Blinken said, the recent series of contacts between the U.S. and China is beneficial to bilateral ties and the U.S. looks forward to increasing contacts and exchanges with China at various levels. The U.S. pursues the one-China policy and remains committed to abiding by the three Sino-U.S. joint communiques. The U.S. hopes to maintain communication and coordination with China on major international and regional issues.

The two sides also exchanged views on other issues of common concern.