US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman (Archive)

The United States State Department stated on Friday that it will cooperate with China when it is in America's best interests, but that the next decade will be "decisive" in terms of US-China competition.

At a Washington Post online talk, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said "We will cooperate with the PRC when it’s in our interest like issues like climate change and global health, but there is definitely going to be a very decisive decade here."

Sherman went on to say, "We want to compete with China on America's and the world's future, but we want to do so under the rules-based international order, not the set of rules that China is attempting to create for itself, even though it has risen in part of that rules-based international order."

Concerning Americans detained in China, Sherman stated that the State Department had formed working groups following meetings with their Chinese counterparts to address a variety of issues, including exit bans and unjust detention of Americans, and had "made some progress."

She added that President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan had raised specific cases with their Chinese counterparts.

It is worth noting that China has recently announced it will be ending cooperation with the United States on important issues such as climate change, anti-drug efforts, and military talks, as Sino-US relations deteriorate after Washington stubbornly made its way to Taiwan, breaching Chinese sovereignty.