This is the visit of the highest US diplomat in five years. Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, arrived in Beijing on Sunday to ease bilateral tensions.
The issues of friction are so numerous that no one expects breakthroughs, but the idea of starting a diplomatic thaw and holding a dialogue to “responsibly manage the Sino-US relationship” remains, according to the State Department.
“More Shameful Than Intentional”
Because time is running out. Next year there will be an electoral period both in the United States and in Taiwan, which China considers one of its provinces that it must reunify, by force if necessary. And things can change a bit: thus, the visit of the head of US diplomacy was initially scheduled for February, following the meeting last November between US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of a G20 Summit in Indonesia.
But it was canceled at the last minute. In question: the overflight of a Chinese balloon over US territory, accused by Washington of being a “spy” plane, while Beijing assured that it was a weather machine having deviated from its trajectory.
As Antony Blinken headed to China, US President Joe Biden played down this latest episode. “I don’t think the leaders knew where it was, what was inside and what was going on,” he told reporters on Saturday. “I think it was more embarrassing than intentional,” he added.
Taiwan at the center of discussions
He also said he hoped to meet President Xi Jinping again “in the coming months” to “talk about our legitimate differences, but also about areas where we can agree.” Joe Biden and Xi Jinping had a lengthy and surprisingly cordial interview in November 2022, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali. Speaking in Washington before his departure, Antony Blinken wanted to be moderately optimistic.
This two-day trip should “open up direct lines of communication so that our two countries can manage our relationship responsibly, including by addressing certain challenges and misperceptions and avoiding miscalculations,” he said. “Intense competition requires continued diplomacy to ensure it doesn’t escalate into confrontation or conflict,” she added, because “the world expects the United States and China to cooperate.” Among the main disputes, trade and the autonomous democratic island of Taiwan, which Beijing does not rule out seizing by force.
Before Antony Blinken’s visit, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Wang Wenbin, said the United States should “respect China’s fundamental concerns” and work with Beijing. “Les Etats-Unis doivent renoncer à l’illusion de traiter avec la Chine ‘en position de force’. La Chine et les Etats-Unis doivent developper des relations sur la base du respect mutuel et de l’égalité, in respectant leurs différences “, he said.
Antony Blinken’s visit is the first by a US secretary of state to China since the October 2018 trip of his predecessor, Mike Pompeo, who was then the mastermind of the confrontational strategy with Beijing in the last years of the presidency. of Donald Trump. Since then, the Biden administration has maintained this hard line, going even further in some areas, including by imposing export controls to limit Beijing’s purchase and manufacturing of high-end chips “used in military applications.”
But she wants to cooperate with China on key issues like climate. Antony Blinken’s visit also comes as China is experiencing a heat wave, with a new temperature record for mid-June hit in Beijing on Friday at 39.4°C.
For Danny Russell, a former senior US State Department official, each side has a stake in this visit: China hopes to avoid further US restrictions on technology and any new support for Taiwan. The United States, on the other hand, wishes to avoid any incident that could lead to a military confrontation. “Anthony Blinken’s brief visit will not solve any of the big problems in the US-China relationship, not even necessarily the small ones. Nor will it stop either party from pursuing their competing agendas,” said Danny Russel, now vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York.
“But his visit may well reignite a much-needed face-to-face dialogue and send a signal that the two countries are moving from angry rhetoric with the media to more sober talks behind closed doors.”
Source: BFM TV
