Blinken in China: Beijing warns Washington of risk of ‘deterioration’ in relations

Threats on TikTok, US restrictions on semiconductor exports to China, and now a Russian cargo ship carrying North Korean ammunition… The list of issues plaguing relations between the United States and China is long.

As US Secretary of State Antony Blinken makes his second visit to China in less than a year, his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi warned of the risk of a “deterioration” in already difficult ties. The two men spoke this Friday morning in Beijing and then spent several hours together behind closed doors at the Diaoyutai State Guest House and then over a work lunch. The “big ship” of Sino-US relations has stabilized, “but negative factors in the relationship continue to increase and accumulate” and they are “facing all kinds of turmoil,” Wang Yi warned.

“China’s legitimate development rights are being unjustifiably infringed and our fundamental interests are being called into question,” the minister said, referring to US restrictions on the technology sector. “Should China and the US continue to move in the right direction of stability or return to a worsening situation? “, he pretended to be surprised.

No meeting with Xi Jinping planned

The head of US diplomacy responded that “active diplomacy” was necessary to advance the agenda set by Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping when they met in San Francisco in November. “In our view, there is no alternative to face-to-face diplomacy,” Blinken said, adding that he wants to ensure that “we are as clear as possible in areas where we disagree, at least to avoid misunderstandings, to avoid bad calculations.”

Arriving in China on Wednesday, Blinken made his first stop in Shanghai and landed in Beijing late Thursday. Beijing has not announced a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at this time. However, during the Secretary of State’s previous visit in June, a meeting between the two men became known at the last minute.

If China’s list of claims is so long, it will limit consideration of America’s claims. I am not sure that in this context Blindent will be able to cover all the planned topics. Washington is particularly concerned about China’s “trade policies and non-market economic practices.” The White House is also concerned about the role China is playing with Russia in the war against Ukraine, as evidenced by the presence of a US-sanctioned Russian container ship undergoing repairs at a Chinese port after numerous comings and goings. between Russia and North Korea, no doubt to deliver ammunition that the Pyongyang regime is selling to Moscow.