US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and senior Chinese officials, stressing the importance of “responsibly managing” the differences between the US and China as the two sides butt heads over a number of contentious bilateral, regional and global issues, including Taiwan and the South China Sea.
Talks between the two sides have increased over the past few months, even as differences have grown.
Blinken said he raised concerns with Xi about Taiwan and the South China Sea, along with China’s support for Russia and its invasion of Ukraine, as well as other issues including human rights, and the production and export of synthetic opioid precursors.
Photo: AFP
Blinken arrived in China on Wednesday, visiting Shanghai shortly before Biden signed the US$95 billion foreign aid package, including US$8 billion to counter China’s growing aggressiveness toward Taiwan and in the South China Sea. It also seeks to force TikTok’s China-based parent company to sell the social media platform.
Washington has become increasingly alarmed by Beijing’s growing aggressiveness toward Taiwan and its smaller Southeast Asian neighbors with which it has significant territorial and maritime disputes in the South China Sea.
China has railed against US assistance to Taiwan and immediately condemned the aid as a dangerous provocation. It also strongly opposes efforts to force TikTok’s sale.
Blinken sounded a positive note on the progress made in bilateral cooperation over the past few months, including in military communications, counternarcotics and artificial intelligence.
“We are committed to maintaining and strengthening lines of communication to advance that agenda, and again deal responsibly with our differences so we avoid any miscommunications, any misperceptions, any miscalculations,” he said.
However, he said he made clear to Xi ongoing concerns about Beijing’s supply of materials, including machine tools and micro electronics, to Moscow that Russian President Vladimir Putin is using to boost Russia’s defenses and its war on Ukraine.
“Russia would struggle to sustain its assault on Ukraine without China’s support,” Blinken told reporters after his meeting with Xi.
“Fueling Russia’s defense industrial base not only threatens Ukrainian security, it threatens European security,” he added. “As we’ve told China for some time, ensuring transatlantic security is a core US interest. In our discussions today, I made clear that China does not address this problem.”
Blinken also discussed with Xi China’s maritime maneuvers in the disputed South China Sea, and reiterated “ironclad” US support for the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia.
Xi said that China and the US must seek common ground “rather than engage in vicious competition.”
“China is happy to see a confident, open, prosperous and thriving US,” Xi said. “We hope the US can also look at China’s development in a positive light. This is a fundamental issue that must be addressed.”
Earlier, Blinken held lengthy talks with Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) and Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong (王小洪).
Blinken and Wang Yi underscored the importance of keeping lines of communication open as they lamented persistent and deepening divisions that threaten global security.
The US Department of State later said that in the meeting with Wang Yi, Blinken “emphasized that the US would continue to stand up for our interests and values and those of our allies and partners, including on human rights and economic issues.”
US officials have said China’s ties with Russia would be a primary topic of conversation during Blinken’s visit, and just before yesterday’s meetings began, Putin announced he would visit China next month.
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