U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday, trying to maintain tense relations despite disputes over the economy, national security and geopolitical frictions in East Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Ukraine.
Both China and the United States have said they want to make progress in smaller, pragmatic areas, including improving communication between their militaries and easing travel between the two countries. But they remain stalled on basic strategic issues, including trade policy and territorial conflicts in the South China Sea and Taiwan. Both sides acknowledged the danger that their relationship would slide into further conflict.
The Biden administration is deeply concerned that cheap Chinese exports are threatening U.S. jobs and that China is backing Russia in its war in Ukraine. China also accuses the United States of trying to encircle its interests in the Pacific.
Earlier in the day, Blinken met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi for more than five hours and had a working lunch at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing.
Wang struck a more conciliatory tone in his speech than in the past, telling Blinken that “China-U.S. relations have begun to stabilize” and that their future will depend on the decisions of both countries.During Mr. Blinken’s visit to China last year, Mr. Wang blame He said that the deterioration of Sino-US relations requires “self-reflection.”
But Wang Yi also warned on Friday that negative factors in the relationship between the two countries were still “increasing and intensifying.”
“The relationship between the two countries is facing various disturbances,” Wang Yi said on Friday. “China’s legitimate right to development has been unreasonably suppressed, and our core interests are facing challenges.”
“I hope we can make some progress on issues where the two presidents agree we should work together, while also clarifying our differences and intentions and making each other’s positions clear,” Blinken responded.
Among other goals, U.S. officials want China to make progress in stemming the flow of chemicals used to make fentanyl into the U.S. and improve communication between the two countries’ militaries to avoid falling into war. Chinese officials said they would promote more cultural exchanges between the two countries and urged the United States to stop interrogating Chinese students at the border.
In recent weeks, U.S. officials have begun expressing concerns with greater urgency about Chinese economic aid to Russia. China denies arming Russia’s war effort, which Washington says would be a red line, but U.S. officials say China is still promoting Russia’s defense industry by selling components that can be used for civilian or military purposes.
