Secretary of State Antony Blinken touched down in Beijing on Sunday for long-delayed talks during a time of escalating US-China tensions, marking the first visit for a US Secretary of State since 2018.
Summary
Secretary of State Antony Blinken touched down in Beijing on Sunday for long-delayed talks during a time of escalating US-China tensions, marking the first visit for a US Secretary of State since 2018.
- Blinken is expected to meet with Qin Gang, the Chinese Foreign Minister and leading diplomat Wang Yi during his two-day visit.
- Blinken may also meet with President Xi Jinping although that has not yet been confirmed.
- The trip comes months after his initial February visit was scuttled after the Billings Gazette published photos of a Chinese spy balloon flying over the US, forcing the Biden administration’s hand and leading to the shootdown of the surveillance craft.
- Blinken’s goals are to reestablish ties between senior leaders of the US and China to reduce tensions and “responsibly manage” the Sino-American relationship, as the State Department put it.
- The Secretary of State is also expected to address the cases of Americans wrongfully detained in China.
- These prisoners include Mark Swidan, a 48-year-old businessman who has been on death row since 2012, 67-year-old pastor David Lin, imprisoned since 2006, and 60-year-old Kai Li, wrongfully detained since 2012.
- “Beijing isn’t toning down that combative rhetoric. Successful dialogue with China requires the U.S. “to give up the illusion of dealing with China ‘from a position of strength,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Friday in reference to Blinken’s trip.” (Politico)
- “China is expected to raise a litany of grievances reflecting Beijing’s view that the United States is a declining hegemon determined to cling to power by containing China economically, militarily and diplomatically. At the top of China’s list is Taiwan, a de facto independent island that Beijing claims as its own territory and that gets military aid from Washington.” (New York Times)
- “However, contacts between the countries’ top military officials are still frozen, and it remains to be seen whether Blinken’s visit can lead to a breakthrough on that front. China rejected an offer for a formal meeting between Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu, who is under US sanction, in Singapore last month, although the two did speak briefly.” (CNN)
- “Over the past month, there have been signs of improvement. The Financial Times reported that CIA director Bill Burns secretly visited China in May, and in the same month US national security adviser Jake Sullivan met Wang Yi, China’s top foreign policy official, in Vienna. Biden later said at the G7 in Hiroshima, Japan, that he expected an imminent “thaw” in relations.” (Financial Times)
- “Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to seek Beijing’s help curbing international traffic in the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl when he visits, in a bid to remove an irritant from the contentious U.S.-China relationship.” (Wall Street Journal)
- “In a conversation with Microsoft founder Bill Gates on Friday, Xi hinted at being open to negotiations with the American officials. “I believe that the foundation of Sino-U.S. relations lies in the people,” Xi said to Gates. “Under the current world situation, we can carry out various activities that benefit our two countries, the people of our countries, and the entire human race.”” (Fox News)
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© Dominic Moore, 2023
