Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday in Beijing, as the United States and China seek to pull relations out of a deep freeze that has fueled global concerns about increasing risk of conflict between them.
The meeting between the two officials, held at the Great Hall of the People, the large building on the west side of Tiananmen Square where Mr. Xi often receives state leaders, sent a signal, at least. is that at the moment, that the two countries do not want their relationship to be defined by overt hostility, and that they realize great benefits in their rivalry and diplomatic endeavors.
Earlier the same day, Mr. Blinken met with Wang Yi, China’s top foreign policy official, who said that the two countries have a responsibility to the world to reverse the downward spiral in their relations, according to an official Chinese reading for three hours. meeting. But Mr. Wang was tough when he blamed Washington for the tensions.
The State Department brief took a deliberate approach, saying Mr Blinken and Mr Wang had a “frank and productive discussion” and Mr Blinken stressed that the two powers must manage responsibly “through open channels of communication to ensure competition does not lead to conflict.”
Mr. Blinken is the first US secretary of state to visit Beijing since 2018. Attempts to establish high-level diplomacy frequently come at a time when bilateral ties are at their lowest point in decades. Tensions heightened in February when the Pentagon announced that a Chinese surveillance balloon was drifting over the continental United States — prompting Blinken to cancel a previously planned trip to Beijing — and then ordered the American fighters to shoot it down.
Relations were further strained in February when Blinken confronted Wang on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference to tell him that Washington believed China was considering lethal assistance to Russia in the war in Ukraine. China responded by freezing some important diplomatic exchanges and ramping up anti-American rhetoric.
In recent weeks, the two countries have sought to restore high-level contacts to better manage the tensions that have escalated in recent years. Officials on both sides have said that two days of diplomacy in Beijing would ideally lead to a series of early visits to the Chinese capital by other senior US officials, including Janet Yellen, the Treasury secretary. principal, Gina Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce and John Kerry. Presidential special envoy for climate affairs.
U.S. officials say maintaining regular high-level dialogue is important so that the two governments can quickly talk to each other in any crisis that may arise, especially when militaries. their coming into closer contact with each other at sea and in the air around them. China and other parts of Asia.
On Monday, Wang, the top foreign policy official, said the United States should cooperate with Beijing instead of “inflating” the “China threat theory,” according to China’s official announcement. He said Washington must lift sanctions on China and stop blocking its technological development. He accused the US of “recklessly interfering in China’s internal affairs” on issues such as Taiwan, the de facto independent island claimed by China to which the US supplies weapons. .
No issue worries Beijing more than Washington’s perception of growing support for Taiwan. Beijing has also sought to push back against Washington’s efforts to limit its access to semiconductors and advanced manufacturing equipment, as well as strengthen defense ties with regional allies. especially Japan, Korea, Australia and the Philippines.
The US report on the meeting with Mr. Wang said Mr. Blinken confirmed his government would continue to raise issues of concern with China, but also said the two officials “discussed the facilities”. cooperative discovery society on common transnational challenges.” US officials say climate change, global economic instability and fentanyl production are examples of those challenges.
On Sunday, Mr. Blinken met Qin Gang, China’s foreign minister, for five and a half hours and they had dinner for two hours. According to the State Department’s written summary, the talks were “frank, substantive and constructive.”
State Department officials said the two governments had agreed to soon have working groups and diplomats meet on a range of issues, including increased access to each country for journalists, academics and student. US officials also said they and their Chinese partners have agreed to expand direct commercial flights between the two countries.
A two-day meeting could prevent a deterioration in existing relations, although analysts say it will take longer for the two sides to overcome the distrust that is weighing on the relationship.
Blinken’s visit is expected to help push the two governments to “form a principled framework for managing US-China relations, to limit competition to acceptable limits, and to create more space for concerted efforts where U.S. and Chinese interests overlap.” Jessica Chen Weiss, a political scientist at Cornell University who recently advised the State Department on China policy.
China has rejected efforts by the Biden administration to set up so-called protective barriers to prevent potential accidents in disputed areas like the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea from spiraling out of control. . Analysts say that some Chinese officials see any perception by Americans that the Chinese government and its military can be unpredictable as a useful deterrent. It is thought that this perception may lead US officials to reconsider their military activities in the waters and airspace around China.
Analysts said China may have been pushed to meet Mr. Blinken for a number of reasons. Pressure may be growing on Beijing to stabilize relations because of China’s deteriorating economy. Other countries have also called on China and the United States to break their cycle of hostility. Mr. Xi may also want to forge ties so that he is received as a global statesman if he chooses to attend the leaders summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation nations. in San Francisco in November.
“China has spent the past several months blaming the United States for everything that went wrong in the relationship and more broadly within China. Now, Chinese leaders need to create the political space to move towards more direct communication,” said Ryan Hass, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who served as director of China at the Security Council. Country under President Obama, said.
“Beijing considers it in its interest to have direct communication to manage tensions in the relationship and builds a favorable opportunity for President Xi to meet President Biden in the fall,” he added.
