Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday hailed “progress” in China-US relations thanks to a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing, despite deep disagreements between the two powers.
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In a long-awaited sign of reassurance, the Chinese leader received his guest at the People’s Palace, the monumental building used to greet foreign dignitaries on the edge of Tiananmen Square.
“The two parties have made progress and found common ground on certain issues,” Xi Jinping said, without naming the latter, calling the progress a “very good thing,” according to public broadcaster CCTV.
AFP
This interview took place on the second and last day of Antony Blinken’s visit to China. For a chief of American diplomacy, this is the first visit to the Asian country in almost five years.
However, both sides downplayed the prospects for a greater reconciliation. According to the US Secretary of State, who said he was “clear”, the more than 11-hour discussions he held over two days were primarily aimed at restoring dialogue.
“We’ve made progress and we’re moving forward,” Antony Blinken told the press before qualifying. “None of these issues will be resolved in a single visit.”
In another encouraging sign, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang has accepted an invitation to visit the United States at a date to be determined.
However, Antony Blinken acknowledged that progress is limited for now, particularly in restoring communications between the two armies, a priority amid ongoing bilateral tensions over Taiwan.
“Direct contact and sustained communication at the highest level is the best way to responsibly manage differences and ensure competition does not escalate into conflict,” Blinken told reporters.
AFP
“I heard the same thing from my Chinese colleagues. We agree that we need to stabilize our relationships.”
Bilateral relations remain tense on many issues: rivalry over technology, trade, the treatment of China’s Muslim Uyghur minority, or Chinese claims in the South China Sea.
On Monday morning, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) top diplomat Wang Yi told Antony Blinken that the United States must now choose “between dialogue and confrontation, cooperation and conflict,” according to CCTV.
The Chinese official, who has the upper hand over Chinese foreign policy in China and has a hierarchical rank over Foreign Minister Qin Gang, also strongly reiterated China’s position on Taiwan.
“China will not compromise or make any concessions on this issue,” he told Antony Blinken.
AFP
China considers the island one of its provinces, which it has not successfully reunified with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. It does not exclude winning them back by force if necessary.
Beijing says it opposes what it says has been a rapprochement between Washington and Taiwan pro-independence party authorities in recent years.
Therefore, China launched large-scale military exercises around Taiwan last year after official meetings between top American officials and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.
Antony Blinken expressed concern about Chinese “provocations” in the Taiwan Strait. However, he stressed that his country remains opposed to Taipei’s declaration of independence.
The US Secretary of State said he also raised concerns about the treatment of Uyghurs and Tibetans, as well as the situation in Hong Kong, where Beijing has severely curtailed free speech.
US President Joe Biden is sticking to the hard line of his predecessor Donald Trump towards Beijing, with the US notably banning the export of high-performance semiconductors to China.
However, Washington is not trying to “suppress” China’s economic development, Antony Blinken assured on Monday.
“But at the same time” it is “not in our interest to provide China with technologies that could be used against us,” he stressed.
In Beijing, a resident, Sun Yi, said Monday she hoped Antony Blinken’s visit would calm ties.
“The two countries are like quarreling lovers” who are “unwilling to compromise,” the 26-year-old told AFP.
Antony Blinken’s visit was originally scheduled for February but was postponed after a Chinese balloon incursion into US airspace.