Politics
12:13, 04-Oct-2018
Beijing: It's Washington that postpones China-US security dialogue
Updated
11:27, 07-Oct-2018
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China on Wednesday dismissed reports accusing the country of postponing a high-level security dialogue with the US planned for this month, saying such allegation is "distorting facts" and "extremely irresponsible".
It was the US that told China to postpone the second-round China-US Diplomatic and Security Dialogue, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters at a regular press briefing in Beijing on Wednesday.
A senior US official said on Sunday that China canceled the security meeting with US Secretary of Defense James Mattis.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it was not clear if or when the meeting would be rescheduled. The comments were later widely reported by US media.
Hua said it is "completely distorting the facts" and "extremely irresponsible" to blame China for delaying the talks, as it was the US side that brought such suggestion.
Hua said: "The Chinese side is extremely dissatisfied with the accusation. The fact is, it was the US a few days ago told China it hoped to postpone the second round of the China-US Diplomatic and Security Dialogue."
"We request related parties to stop such behavior of making something out of nothing and spreading rumors," she added.
The bilateral ties have been strained in wake of the trade disputes.
The first-round China-US Diplomatic and Security Dialogue, which was described by both sides as "constructive" and "fruitful", was held in June 2017 in Washington, DC. They said the two countries had reached important consensus on bilateral ties and security issues.
(With inputs from agencies)