US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman is discussing the worrying relationship between the two superpowers in Tianjin, China.

As high-level face-to-face talks began in the Chinese city of Tianjin, China accused the United States of causing the so-called “stalemate” in bilateral relations.

According to the official Xinhua News Agency, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng urged Washington to “change its highly misleading mentality and dangerous policies” in a meeting with the US second diplomat on Monday.

“U.S.-China relations are at a standstill and are facing serious difficulties,” Xinhua News Agency quoted Xie as saying to U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman.

“The United States hopes to rekindle a sense of national purpose by establishing China as an’imaginary enemy’.”

Sherman’s China trip has been added to the Asian itinerary, including stops in Japan, South Korea and Mongolia during the agreement debate between Beijing and Washington. He will meet with State Council member Foreign Minister Wang Yi later on Monday. , Or China’s cabinet

She is the highest-level U.S. official who has visited China since President Joe Biden took office six months ago.

Relations between the two countries have deteriorated sharply under the leadership of his predecessor, Donald Trump. The two sides still have differences on a series of issues, including human rights, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, science and technology and other issues.

“The good news is that the two sides are sitting down and talking. But this unstable relationship cannot be denied. The relationship is worrying and they are falling in free fall,” Al Jazeera’s Adrian Brown reported in Hong Kong.

“What Wendy Sherman has to do is try to see if there is a way to better manage this relationship. Moreover, in a few months, the G20 summit will be held in Rome. It is hard to imagine that President Biden and President Xi Jinping will not Will sit down and talk on such occasions. So these current talks are intended to pave the way for that meeting.”

Senior US officials stated that the goal of the talks is not to negotiate on specific issues, but to keep high-level communication channels open. They said the United States wants to ensure that the guardrail is in place to prevent competition between countries from turning into conflict.

One day before Sherman’s arrival, Wang Yi had stated that China would not accept the “superior” position of the United States in the relationship between the two countries.

“China will never accept any country that claims to be superior to other countries,” he told China’s Phoenix TV. “If the United States has not learned to treat other countries equally, China and the international community have a responsibility to help the United States learn how to do this.”

Sherman arrived from Mongolia on Sunday night. During the severe storms and floods that killed at least 63 people in Henan Province last week, he tweeted “heartfelt condolences to those who lost their loved ones (from the United States)”.

After her meeting in March in Anchorage, Alaska, after the initial and highly controversial meeting, Wang and senior Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi flew to meet with US Secretary of State Anthony Brinken and National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan.

At that meeting, Chinese officials, including Wang, criticized the democratic state in the United States, while American officials accused China of sensationalizing.

Monday’s talks were held under China’s strict COVID-19 measures, which meant that visiting foreign officials met with their Chinese counterparts outside the capital Beijing.

Foreign media kept a certain distance from the hotel where the talks took place, but allowed Chinese media to enter.