U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken, who visited China amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and China due to the U.S.’s all-out pressure against China, met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on the 26th. This is Blinken’s first visit to China in 10 months. The visit took place ahead of the inauguration of independence-minded Lai Ching-de as Taiwan’s president next month and the U.S. presidential election in November. The meeting, which took place while the conflict between the US and China is worsening into an unstoppable confrontation in all areas, including technology, security, and human rights, is evaluated as a dialogue to discuss the ‘rules’ of competition to avoid excessive conflict.
According to China’s official Xinhua News Agency, Xi Jinping met with Blinken and said, “China and the United States should be partners, not enemies. They should help each other achieve, not harm each other,” and “dialogue between China and the United States.” “Strengthening, managing differences, and promoting cooperation are the wishes of not only the people of both countries but also the international community,” he said. “China wants to see a confident, open, prosperous, and developed United States, and hopes that the United States will also view China’s development positively,” he said. “Only when this first step is taken will China-US relations become truly stable and good.” did.
Previously, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also met with Blinken on this day and spent five hours reconciling the differences between the two countries. Wang Yi said, “Since the China-US summit in San Francisco in November of last year, the relationship between the two countries has shown overall stability, but negative factors are accumulating,” adding, “China’s legitimate development rights are being unfairly suppressed and its core interests are continuously being challenged.” “He said. He said, “The international community is paying attention to whether it will be a win-win for both sides (both countries benefit), or whether there will be a confrontation or conflict and everyone will lose.” In response, Blinken said, “To avoid misunderstandings and misjudgments, we need to make the areas of disagreement as clear as possible.” He then emphasized the importance of direct dialogue, saying, “Face-to-face diplomacy cannot be replaced by anything else.”
Blinken also requested China’s role in relation to the North Korean nuclear issue. After meeting with Xi Jinping and Wang Yi, he met with reporters and said, “I asked China to put pressure on North Korea to stop its dangerous actions and engage in dialogue.” He also emphasized the role of the United States in achieving complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the U.S. State Department said.
The meeting on this day was mostly held behind closed doors, and it appears that the United States focused on demanding an end to China’s military support for Russia and an end to unfair economic and trade practices, while China demanded an easing of U.S. economic pressure and minimal intervention in the Taiwan issue. Alfred Wu, a professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, said, “China may want to emphasize the ‘red line’ on the Taiwan issue,” adding, “The United States and China must establish a foundation to prevent tensions from escalating ahead of President Lai Ching-de’s inauguration ceremony on the 20th of next month.” “We want to prepare,” he analyzed.
Hong Kong’s Xingdao Daily reported that Blinken’s meeting agenda may also include preparations for U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit to China. From China’s perspective, it is of great interest whether Biden, whose first four-year term ends in January next year, will visit China. Although Biden and Xi Jinping have visited the United States, including a meeting in San Francisco last November, Biden has never visited China as president. After meeting Xi Jinping on this day, Blinken told reporters, “The two countries have decided to hold the first official meeting related to artificial intelligence (AI) within a few weeks.”
Blinken’s visit to China attracted attention as it took place amid growing pressure from the United States on China. On the 24th, Biden signed a bill mandating the forced sale of Chinese short video platform TikTok’s business rights in the United States and a foreign security package bill that includes arms support to Taiwan. On the 25th, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) banned Chinese telecommunications companies from providing broadband Internet services in the United States. Previously, it was reported that the United States had drafted sanctions to block some Chinese banks that support Russian trade deals from the global financial system, and the U.S. State Department increased the level of pressure by criticizing the repression of Uyghurs in China’s Xinjiang autonomous region in its annual human rights report. .
Although the visit took place amidst heightened tensions, Blinken’s visit to the ‘economic capital’ of Shanghai before the capital, Beijing, is analyzed as an emphasis on strengthening cooperation and expanding exchanges between the US and China. Blinken, who arrived in Shanghai on the afternoon of the 24th, watched a basketball game and took a walk along the Huangpu River. The next day, he visited the Shanghai Bund, a symbol of China’s rapid development, and met with Shanghai Party Secretary Chen Jining (the number one figure) and said, “The United States and China must manage their differences responsibly,” and “it is our duty to the people of both countries and the world.” He emphasized.
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