Chinese and American diplomat’s sit down and talk….

In [Foreign Minister’s] Mr. Qin’s meeting with Mr. Burns, the Chinese official accused Washington of derailing progress in the relationship following the meeting of President Biden and China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, in November in Bali, Indonesia. Mr. Qin blamed “a series of erroneous words and deeds” by the United States for undermining “the hard-won positive momentum of Sino-U.S. relations,” according to the Chinese readout.

Mr. Qin said he hoped the Biden administration could “reflect deeply” and push the relationship “back on track.” To do that, Washington needed to respect “China’s bottom line” on issues such as Taiwan, the self-governing island claimed by Beijing. Mr. Qin said the United States was “supporting and condoning ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces.”

China reacted angrily to a visit last month by President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan to the United States. Ms. Tsai met with Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the House of Representatives, in what was the highest-level in-person gathering for a leader of Taiwan in the United States since Beijing established relations with Washington in 1979.

In a post on Twitter, Mr. Burns said he and Mr. Qin “discussed challenges in the U.S.-China relationship and the necessity of stabilizing ties and expanding high-level communication.”