US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Beijing early Sunday on a high-stakes diplomatic mission to try to defuse exploding tensions between the US and China that have put many around the world on edge.
Blinken would begin two days of talks with senior Chinese officials in the afternoon. He is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit China since President Joe Biden took office and the first Secretary of State to make the trip in five years.
The trip comes after he postponed plans for a visit in February due to a Chinese spy balloon shot down after drifting over the US, further escalating tensions between DC and Beijing.
Yet the prospects for a significant breakthrough on the most vexing issues facing the planet’s two largest economies are slim as ties have already become increasingly strained in recent years.
Hostility and accusations have steadily escalated over a series of disagreements that have implications for global security and stability.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Beijing early Sunday on a high-stakes diplomatic mission to try to defuse exploding tensions between the US and China.
Blinken would begin two days of talks with senior Chinese officials in the afternoon. He is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit China since President Joe Biden took office
According to US officials, Blinken plans to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Sunday, top diplomat Wang Yi and possibly President Xi Jinping on Monday.
Biden and Xi agreed early to Blinken’s trip at a meeting in Bali last year. It came within a day of the February event, but was delayed by the diplomatic and political uproar caused by the discovery of what the US says was a Chinese spy balloon flying over the United States and shot down.
The list of disagreements and possible points of conflict is long: from trade with Taiwan, human rights situations in China to Hong Kong, China’s military assertiveness in the South China Sea and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Before Blinken’s departure from Washington on Friday, US officials said he would raise each of them, though neither side has shown any inclination to reverse their positions.
Shortly before his departure, Blinken emphasized the importance of establishing and maintaining better lines of communication between the US and China. The US wants to make sure “that the competition we have with China does not turn into conflict” because of avoidable misunderstandings, he told reporters.
Biden and Xi had made commitments to improve communications “precisely so that we can make sure we communicate as clearly as possible to avoid potential misunderstandings and miscommunication,” Blinken said Friday.
Xi hinted at a possible willingness to ease tensions, saying Friday during a meeting with co-founder of Microsoft Corp. Bill Gates that the United States and China can work together to “benefit our two countries.”
“I believe that the basis of Sino-US relations is in the people,” Xi told Gates. “Under the current world situation, we can carry out various activities that benefit our two countries, the people of our countries and all of humanity.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken walks in on Sunday after arriving in Beijing, China
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is welcomed by US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns and the Director General of the State Department’s Department of North American and Oceanic Affairs Yang Tao upon arrival in Beijing
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (right) is welcomed by the Director General of the Department of North American and Oceanic Affairs of the State Department Yang Tao and U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns (left), upon arrival in Beijing
Biden told White House reporters on Saturday that he “hoped that in the coming months I will meet with Xi again and talk about legitimate differences that we have, but also how … we get along.” The opportunity could come at a September meeting of the Group of 20 Leaders in New Delhi and at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in November in San Francisco, hosted by the United States.
Since the cancellation of Blinken’s trip in February, there have been some high-level appointments. CIA Chief William Burns traveled to China in May, while China’s Commerce Secretary traveled to the US. Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with Yi in Vienna in May.
But those were punctuated by bursts of angry rhetoric from both sides about the Taiwan Strait, their broader intentions in the Indo-Pacific, China’s refusal to condemn Russia for its war on Ukraine, and US accusations from Washington that Beijing is trying to increase its global surveillance capabilities, including in Cuba.
And earlier this month, China’s defense minister turned down a request from US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to meet on the sidelines of a security symposium in Singapore, a sign of continued discontent.
Austin said on Friday he was confident he and his Chinese counterpart would meet “but we’re not there yet.”
To underline the situation, China rejected a report by a US security company, which blamed Chinese hackers for attacks on hundreds of public institutions, schools and other targets around the world, as “far-fetched and unprofessional.”
A spokesman for China’s foreign ministry repeated allegations that Washington carries out hacking attacks and complained that the cybersecurity industry rarely reports on them.
View of the motorcade with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken after his arrival in Beijing
That followed a similar response earlier this week, when China said that in a phone conversation with Blinken, Qin had urged the United States to “respect China’s key concerns,” such as the issue of Taiwan’s self-government, and ” stop interfering in China’s internal affairs, and stop harming China’s sovereignty, security and development interests in the name of competition.”
Meanwhile, the national security advisers of the United States, Japan and the Philippines held their first joint talks on Friday and agreed to strengthen their defense cooperation, in part to counter China’s growing influence and ambitions.
This coincides with the Biden administration reaching an agreement with Australia and Britain to provide the first with nuclear-powered submarines, with China rapidly expanding its diplomatic presence, especially in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific island nations, where it has opened or opened its doors. plans to open at least five new embassies in the coming year.
The agreement is part of an 18-month-old nuclear partnership called AUKUS – for Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
In a speech before Blinken’s departure, two US officials downplayed hopes for major progress, emphasizing that the trip was intended to restore a sense of calm and normalcy to high-level contacts.
“We come to Beijing with a realistic, confident approach and a genuine desire to manage our competition in the most responsible manner,” said Daniel Kritenbrink, the top US diplomat for East Asia and the Pacific.
Kurt Campbell, the National Security Council’s top Asia expert, said: “intense competition requires intense diplomacy if we are to manage tensions. That’s the only way to eliminate misconceptions, identify, communicate and collaborate where and when our interests coincide.’