Black smoke after the first attempts of thawing Between United States And China. Today, June 18th, was the long-awaited day of the meeting between the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinkand the Chinese Foreign Minister, Qin Gangwhich could have been a first step towards resolving disputes between the two countries affecting priority dossiers in the field of security Taiwan atUkraine. But the head of US diplomacy’s six-hour visit, the longest since its predecessor in 2018 and the first of this magnitude under the Biden administration, appears to have borne no fruit. Indeed, if the US State Department spoke of it “open”, “substantive” and “constructive” discussionswith Blinken emphasizing the importance of diplomacy and maintaining open channels of communication on all issues to reduce the risk of miscalculation and miscalculation,” Beijing Foreign Ministry comment was frosty: Relations are at its “lowest level” since 1979when the two countries officially established diplomatic relations at the embassy level.
However, the fact that the foreign minister has invited his counterpart to another meeting leaves room for hope Washington and that this was accepted. The same is true if you listen to the motivation given by the Chinese establishment for the first declarations: in fact, they declared that this situation “is not in accordance with the regulations”. basic interests of both peoplesit still does not meet the common expectations of the international community,” recalling that China’s policy towards the United States “has always maintained continuity and stability and is fundamentally based on the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence And beneficial cooperation for everyone”. For this reason, Beijing strives to “build stable, predictable and constructive Sino-US relations,” the minister reiterated. It is hoped that the US side will support an objective and rational understanding of China, giving him “halfway way, maintaining the political foundations of bilateral relations, and dealing with unexpected incidents calmly, professionally and rationally”.
But there are still many points to be clarified and gaps to be filled. The most difficult differences to overcome, however, concern the vision of the future of the two leaders. Joe Biden And Xi Jinping. On the one hand there is China, an ever-growing power, the one new world order that exceeds the unipolar system currently who sees the united states as hegemonic power. On the other hand actually exactly the USA they want maintain the status quo, curbing the rise of Beijing and other emerging economies. A vision of the future that is so difficult to reconcile that the points of contact can perhaps be found in the individual dossiers.
The first on Beijing’s agenda is certainly that of Taiwan. Tensions between the two countries have increased dramatically in recent years: there was support from Beijing e.g Flyduring US and block Born You fully supported the Ukrainian cause, let’s not forget the launch of Chinese spy balloons over the American sky. All episodes that have often prompted Washington to take provocative actions in the United States Strait of Taiwantrue raw nerve of the People’s Republic which does not accept interfering in the conflict with the Taipei executive with autonomous aspirations. The “One China” principle He is a red line for Beijing and has also been married by the US in the past. For this reason Xi Jinping and his entourage have repeatedly called on America to respect him. Even Blinken explained on the sidelines of the meeting that Minister Qin Gang explained China’s position and formulated clear demands “on the Taiwan question and on China’s fundamental interests and main concerns”. The Taiwan issue is at the heart of China’s fundamental interests, the most important issue in Sino-US relations and the greatest risk.”
Then there’s this Ukrainian question. Here the meeting points appear larger. If, on the one hand, Beijing has promised one thing “Friendship Without Borders” In Moscow, too, it is true that this does not result in a real alliance, least of all from a military point of view. Not surprisingly, the People’s Republic has never, at least formally, supplied weapon systems to the army Wladimir Putin, but limited himself to guaranteeing the purchase of enormous amounts of gas (at a good price) from the Federation, thus supporting its economy. However, the dragon also knows that a break with the so-called western bloc is not a viable option: he shares what is by far the most fruitful trade exchange with him, which should be further strengthened as a project of the “western bloc”. Belt and Road Initiative. Support for Moscow is just the latest weapon Beijing is using to corner Washington by banking on US will Kremlin to undermine the unipolar world order. But China is not willing to sacrifice deals on behalf of Moscow.