IRIA News

Top diplomats from the United States and China met on October 26, 2023, as China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited the U.S. to meet with the Secretary of State Antony Blinken. This was the first visit by a Chinese Foreign Minister to Washington since 2018.

China’s veteran diplomat also had a brief meeting with the U.S. President Joe Biden during his two-day trip. Wang’s trip to the U.S. comes ahead of an expected meeting between Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit next month in San Francisco.

During his meeting with Blinken, Wang acknowledged that the two countries have their differences and disagreements, but said the two countries “share important common interests and we face challenges that we need to respond to together.” Wang made these remarks before he conducted a bilateral meeting with his U.S. counterpart. “I’m sure that our discussion will be constructive and forward-looking,” he said.

“In China-U.S. relations, from time to time there will be some jarring voices. When it happens, China treats it calmly because we are of the view what is right and what is wrong is not determined by who has the stronger arm or a louder voice, but if one behaves in a way that is consistent with the provisions of the three China-U.S. joint communique, consistent with international law and basic norms of international relations, and consistent with the climate of the times,” Wang said in his remarks before the meeting.

According to the statement released by the U.S. State Department, the meeting was a reciprocal of Blinken’s travel to Beijing which he made in June this year. The statement said that the Secretary reiterated the U.S.’s commitment toward standing up for its “interests and values and those of our allies and partners.”

Revitalizing communication

The Biden administration has been pushing to revitalize communication channels between Beijing and Washington to open leader-level engagement between the two countries. Although several top-level U.S. officials have visited China in recent times, including the Secretary of State Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Wang’s visit to the U.S. is the first high-level diplomatic engagement between the two countries on U.S. soil in a long time.

More recently, Blinken met Chinese Vice President Han Zheng in New York, who was there to present China at the United Nations General Assembly. U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan also met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Malta last month.

Relations between the world’s two largest economies have been strained in recent years due to several issues including Taiwan, the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, allegations of spying, human rights issues, and trade tariffs, among others.

Some positive momentum was shown by both sides toward an expected meeting between Biden and Xi next month in San Francisco, however, no confirmations were made whether the meeting would go through.

During his meeting with Wang Yi at the White House, U.S. President emphasized that both the United States and China need to manage competition in the relationship responsibly and maintain open lines of communication.  He underscored that the United States and China must work together to address global challenges.

Concerns over Middle East

The Israel and Palestine conflict remains the most pressing issue on a global scale, however, neither Blinken nor Wang referenced the ongoing situation during their remarks. State Department officials told reporters that Blinken pushed China to take a “constructive approach” on the matter and use its influence with Iran to prevent an escalation into a wider war in the Middle East. However, China has shown no willingness to align itself with the West on matters related to the Middle East.

China has condemned violence and attacks on civilians in the conflict. Russia and China on Wednesday vetoed a U.S. push for the United Nations Security Council to act on the Israel-Hamas conflict by calling for pauses in fighting to allow humanitarian aid access. Beijing has been pushing for an immediate ceasefire instead of a humanitarian pause.