US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Beijing on the morning of June 18 with the mission of mending US-China relations, which have been fractured in recent years.
Blinken will be the first secretary of state to visit China since 2018, due to Beijing's strict Covid-19 lockdown measures, but also reflects how US-China relations have sunk to their lowest point in decades.
His trip was scheduled to follow a meeting between President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Bali in November 2022. However, the plan was canceled in February, after a Chinese spy balloon was shot down over sensitive US military sites.
Trip focus
Mr. Blinken is the most senior US official to visit China since 2019, and the first US secretary of state to visit the Asian country since 2018, following Mr. Mike Pompeo's trip there in 2018.
The main focus of Mr. Blinken’s trip will be to reestablish high-level diplomatic relations, especially establishing channels of communication to “address misperceptions and prevent miscalculations,” and to ensure that competition between the two superpower rivals does not degenerate into conflict, according to Mr. Daniel Kritenbrink, US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs.
Mr. Blinken also plans to discuss with Chinese officials bilateral issues of concern, global and regional issues as well as the possibility of cooperation to address common transnational challenges, according to a statement from the US State Department.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will be the first US Cabinet-level official to visit China since President Joe Biden takes office in 2021. Photo: SCMP
Meanwhile, the most important issue for China in the meeting with the US official is Taiwan. Chinese President Xi Jinping has described Taiwan as “central to China’s core interests” and accused the US of interfering in China’s internal affairs by providing military aid to the region.
China is also likely to be deeply frustrated with US efforts to restrict China’s access to semiconductor chips and advanced manufacturing equipment. Restrictions that the US says are necessary to keep US technology out of the hands of the Chinese military could hamper China’s technological development for years. China sees the ban as an example of zero-sum competition that pits the two countries against each other.
In addition, Beijing is expected to accuse Washington of inflaming the situation by tightening security ties with regional powers including Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia and India.
China wants the US to treat it as an equal power so that it has an equal voice on the international stage and does not feel threatened by the US military presence in Asia.
Message
Mr Blinken will meet senior Chinese officials such as Foreign Minister Qin Gang or top diplomat Wang Yi, but the question is whether he will meet President Xi Jinping.
US and Chinese officials have been working out the final details of Mr Blinken’s schedule and there has been no confirmation of a meeting between the two. Much will depend on how the meetings on June 18-19 go.
Mr. Blinken has met Mr. Xi several times before, dating back to 2011, when he traveled to Beijing and Chengdu as national security adviser to then-vice president Joe Biden, who was tasked with traveling to China to meet Mr. Xi.
If Xi refuses to meet with Blinken, it would send a “strong signal” that Beijing remains concerned about US moves to “de-risk” its economy from China, including limiting its development of advanced technology, said Dennis Wilder, a leading China expert who formerly worked for the CIA.
Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in Beijing on June 16, but it is unclear whether he will meet with US Secretary of State Blinken. Photo: Bloomberg
Blinken's trip would only be considered a success if he met Xi, a Chinese scholar said, adding that it would be a "rejection" to meet only Qin or Wang.
Just before the Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed that Mr. Blinken would visit China, Mr. Qin Gang had a phone call with Mr. Blinken.
Some Chinese observers believe that the phone call is a reminder to the US side that if the senior US diplomat comes to China without sincerity or continues to pressure China to achieve Washington's own goals, the visit will be meaningless.
The US has sent signals of its desire to mend bilateral relations in recent days. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also told the US House of Representatives on June 13 that it was in the country’s best interests to maintain relations with China. She also asserted that “it would be disastrous for us to try to separate from China . ”
Nguyen Tuyet (According to NY Times, Global Times, Financial Times, Al Jazeera)
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