Mr. Blinken's "biggest request" was rejected by China

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on June 19 and said the two sides had agreed to “stabilize” the severely deteriorating US-China relationship. However, his rare visit to Beijing did not appear to produce any breakthroughs.

The top US diplomat also left Beijing after his biggest request – to restore direct communication channels between the two countries' militaries – was rejected.

Myriad challenges

After meeting with Mr. Xi, Mr. Blinken said that China was not ready to resume military-to-military contacts, which the United States considers crucial to avoiding miscalculation and conflict, especially over the issue of Taiwan.

However, Chinese diplomat in the Western Hemisphere Yang Tao said that Blinken's visit to China "marks a new beginning".

“The US side is certainly aware of the reasons why there are difficulties in military exchanges,” Mr. Duong said, pointing out frankly that the problem is due to sanctions imposed by the US on grounds of national security concerns.

World - Mr. Blinken's — The meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing on June 19 surprised many people because the information was only revealed by the US side 1 hour before. Photo: CNN

Mr. Blinken emphasized that the US is looking to “de-risk” its relationship with China, but is not seeking to cut off its largest trading partner or curb its economic development.

He described the US restrictions on technology exports to China as focused on sensitive national security areas rather than sweeping restrictions. Beijing has so far appeared unconvinced by Mr Blinken’s arguments.

“We have no illusions about the challenges of managing this relationship. There are many issues on which we strongly disagree,” Mr. Blinken said.

The United States and China also remain at odds over trade and intellectual property disputes, human rights concerns, China's support for the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and U.S. restrictions on advanced technology.

The most important result

Tensions remain, but both Mr. Blinken and Mr. Xi said they were pleased with the progress made during two days of talks, though they did not point to specific areas of agreement beyond a shared decision to return to an agenda of cooperation and competition adopted by Mr. Xi and US President Joe Biden in 2022 at the G20 summit in Bali.

That program was derailed in February after a suspected Chinese spy balloon flew through US airspace, forcing Mr Blinken to cancel a trip to Beijing and sending US-China relations to their worst point in decades.

China's Foreign Ministry also stressed that returning to the agreements reached by leaders in Indonesia was the "most important" outcome of Mr. Blinken's visit.

“The two sides have also made progress and reached agreements on some specific issues. This is very good,” Xi said without elaborating, according to a transcript of the remarks released by the US State Department.

Mr. Blinken himself and other U.S. officials do not expect any breakthroughs when it comes to the most vexing issues facing the world's two largest economies.

Instead, these officials stressed the importance of the two countries establishing and maintaining better lines of communication, and China’s refusal to resume military-to-military contacts is a stumbling block.

“It’s very difficult to make progress. This is a problem that takes time, it takes more than one time,” Mr. Blinken said.

Mr Blinken’s trip is expected to herald a new series of visits by senior US and Chinese officials, which could include a meeting between Mr Xi and Mr Biden in India or the US in the coming months .

Nguyen Tuyet (According to AP, Bloomberg)

Source