IRIA News

The United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Beijing on June 18, 2023, to conduct the highest level of diplomatic engagement with China in five years. Blinken held meetings with the top Chinese leadership during his two-day visit.

In the final hours of his visit to Beijing, the U.S. Secretary of State Blinken met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. During the meeting, the two sides agreed to stabilize their relationship and avoid any potential conflicts. Following the conversation with the Chinese leader, Blinken said that “direct engagement and sustained communication at senior levels is the best way to manage our differences and ensure that competition does not veer into conflict”. Blinken added that he heard the same from Chinese counterparts. “We both agree on the need to stabilize our relationship.”

In his opening remarks, President Xi said: “State-to-state interactions should always be based on mutual respect and sincerity. I hope that through this visit, Secretary Blinken, you will make more positive contributions to stabilizing China-U.S. relations.” The Chinese president emphasized the importance of upholding the shared understanding reached in Bali between him and U.S. President Joe Biden. He urged the translation of positive statements into tangible actions to stabilize and enhance China-U.S. relations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets US Secretary of State Blinken in Beijing in a meeting aimed at lowering tensions between the world’s two largest economies pic.twitter.com/1iQ0ZinpNh

— IRIA (@IRIA_Research) June 19, 2023

The 35-minute meeting signaled that both the United States and China intend to avoid defining their relationship through hostility. They acknowledge the significant implications of their rivalry and diplomatic endeavors.

“Candid and constructive discussions”

Blinken had “candid, substantive, and constructive discussions” in separate meetings with President Xi Jinping, China’s top foreign policy official Wang Yi and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang.

According to the U.S. State Department, “Blinken held candid, substantive, and constructive talks today with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Beijing.”

The State Department statement said that Blinken “emphasized the importance of diplomacy and maintaining open channels of communication across the full range of issues to reduce the risk of misperception and miscalculation.“

During the five-and-a-half-hour-long meeting, followed by a dinner, the U.S. secretary of state invited Qin Gang to Washington. The U.S. State Department Spokesperson Matt Miller said that Blinken invited the Chinese foreign minister and the two “agreed to schedule a reciprocal visit at a mutually suitable time.”

Today, I met with People’s Republic of China State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Beijing and discussed how we can responsibly manage the relationship between our two countries through open channels of communication. pic.twitter.com/dPkd0aWQ5J

— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) June 18, 2023

The State Department highlighted that Blinken made clear that the United States will always stand up for the interests and values of the American people and work with its allies and partners to advance the vision for a world that is free, open, and upholds the international rules-based order.

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin told Blinken that China is committed to building a “stable, predictable, and constructive” relationship with the United States. Qin also stated China’s concerns regarding its core interests, especially on the Taiwan issue. He said that the interference in Taiwan is the “most prominent risk” in Sino-U.S. relations.

China’s state-owned news agency Xinhua reported that “Qin pointed out that the Taiwan question is the core of China’s core interests, the most consequential issue and the most pronounced risk in the China-U.S. relationship.”

On the final day of his high-profile visit, Secretary Blinken met with the Director of the Office of China’s Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi. The seasoned diplomats shook hands in Beijing’s Diaoyutai State Guesthouse as they moved with their delegations to conduct bilateral meetings. No remarks were exchanged by the two sides before the meeting started in private.

U.S.-China ties

Originally scheduled in February 2023, Blinken’s visit to China was postponed after an alleged Chinese spy balloon was found flying over sensitive sites in the United States. Washington gave a strong reaction to the move and canceled Blinken’s trip to China in the eleventh hour.

Soon after canceling his trip, Blinken spoke to China’s top foreign policy official Wang Yi and raised security concerns. In response, Wang Yi said that China “has always strictly followed international law, we do not accept any groundless speculation and hype. Faced with unexpected situations, both parties need to keep calm, communicate in a timely manner, avoid misjudgments, and manage differences.”

The world’s two largest economies are locked in a strategic rivalry in all fields ranging from trade, regional security to technology. Blinken’s trip to Beijing marks a major breakthrough in defrosting the diplomatic relations between the two countries. However, some observers are skeptical that the trip would result in any substantial progress in resolving the long-standing issues between Washington and Beijing.