Sébastien Le Belzic (in Beijing), with AFP / Photo credits: Zhai Jianlan / XINHUA / Xinhua via AFP
On the first day of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing to ease tensions, Washington hailed “constructive” and “honest” discussions on Sunday and welcomed the agreement given by the head of Chinese diplomacy. to an upcoming visit to Washington. This two-day visit is the first trip by an American diplomat to Chinese soil in nearly five years.
Initiate a diplomatic thaw
Anthony Blinken met his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang, in a richly decorated state villa located in the old Diaoyutai gardens in Beijing where his Chinese hosts were then to organize a banquet. Although no one was expecting major progress, given the many frictional issues – particularly on trade and Taiwan – the idea was to initiate a diplomatic thaw and maintain a dialogue to “manage the Sino-Chinese relationship responsibly. American,” according to the State Department.
The two men had “frank, substantive and constructive” talks, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said after the meeting. Anthony Blinken notably underlined “the importance of diplomacy and maintaining open channels of communication on all issues in order to reduce the risk of misperception and miscalculation”, he said. Antony Blinken also invited Qin Gang and the two men agreed to “schedule such a visit at a mutually convenient date,” to be determined later, State Department spokesman Matt Miller said. .
“Lowest Point”
For his part, the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs reminded his American counterpart that relations between Beijing and Washington were “at the lowest point” since the beginning of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1979, according to remarks reported by the state television CCTV. And among the sticking points, he said Taiwan was the most sensitive.
“The issue of Taiwan issue is the fundamental issue of China’s overriding interests, the most important issue in China-US relations and the greatest peril” for them, Qin Gang said. still according to CCTV. China considers Taiwan as one of its provinces which it must reunify, by force if necessary.
The balloon affair
The visit of the head of the American diplomacy was initially planned for February, in the wake of the meeting, last November, between the American president Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Indonesia. But it was canceled at the last minute. In question: the overflight of American territory by a Chinese balloon, accused by Washington of being a “spy” aircraft, while Beijing assured that it was a meteorological machine having deviated from its trajectory.
During the visit of his Secretary of State to China, Joe Biden minimized the balloon episode. “I don’t think the leaders knew where it was, what was in it and what was going on,” Trump told reporters on Saturday. “I think it was more embarrassing than intentional.” Joe Biden said he hoped to meet Xi Jinping again “in the coming months”. The two leaders are expected to attend the next G20 summit in September in New Delhi and Xi Jinping has been invited to come to San Francisco in November for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
hard line
Anthony Blinken’s visit is the first by a US Secretary of State to China since the October 2018 trip of his predecessor, Mike Pompeo, who was then the mastermind of the strategy of confrontation with Beijing in recent years. years of Donald Trump’s presidency. The Biden administration has since maintained this hard line, going even further in some areas, including through the imposition of export controls to limit Beijing’s purchase and manufacture of high-end chips “used in applications military”.
But she wants to cooperate with China on crucial issues such as the climate. Anthony Blinken’s visit also comes as part of China is experiencing a heat wave, with a new temperature record for mid-June crossed Friday in Beijing, at 39.4 degrees. For Danny Russel, a former senior official of the US State Department, each party has an interest in this visit: China hopes to avoid new American restrictions on technology and any new support for Taiwan. The United States wishes to prevent any incident likely to lead to a military confrontation.
“Anthony Blinken’s brief visit will not resolve any of the major issues in US-China relations,” said Danny Russel, now vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York. “But his visit may well rekindle a much-needed face-to-face dialogue and send a signal that the two countries are moving from angry rhetoric at the media to more sober talks at behind closed doors”.