Antony Blinken will meet China’s top diplomat and perhaps its president on Monday, on the final day of a rare visit aimed at trying to bring relations back from historic lows.
In the first visit by a US secretary of state to China in five years, Blinken is set to meet Wang Yi but all eyes will be on whether he also meets president Xi Jinping, an engagement sources familiar with the matter said was expected but yet to be confirmed by the state department.
On Sunday, Blinken held talks lasting more than seven-and-a-half hours – an hour more than expected – with Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang. The US state department called the talks – which were held at an ornate state villa, and included a banquet dinner – “candid, substantive and constructive” although they did not appear to make concrete progress on disputes that include Taiwan, trade, human rights and fentanyl.
Both expressed a desire to stabilise ties despite what one US official called their “profound” differences, and agreed that Qin would visit Washington to continue the conversation, though no date was announced.
However, behind closed doors, Qin told Blinken that relations between the US and China “are at the lowest point since the establishment of diplomatic relations”, according to state-run broadcaster CCTV.
“This does not conform to the fundamental interests of the two peoples, nor does it meet the common expectations of the international community,” Qin was reported as saying during the talks at the ancient Diaoyutai gardens.
China made clear that Taiwan is the most important issue, and a potentially dangerous one. “Qin Gang pointed out that the Taiwan issue is the core of China’s … interests, the most important issue in Sino-US relations, and the most prominent risk,” Chinese state media quoted Qin as having told Blinken.
In turn, Blinken stressed “the importance of diplomacy and maintaining open channels of communication across the full range of issues to reduce the risk of misperception and miscalculation”, state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
US officials and analysts expect Blinken’s visit will pave the way for more bilateral meetings in coming months, including possible trips by Treasury secretary Janet Yellen and commerce secretary Gina Raimondo.
It could also set the stage for talks between Xi and president Joe Biden at multilateral summits later in the year.
Sino-US ties have deteriorated across the board in recent years, raising concern the two might one day clash militarily over the self-governed island of Taiwan, which China claims as its own.
Especially alarming for China’s neighbours has been Beijing’s reluctance to engage in regular military-to-military talks with Washington.
Before the talks, US officials saw little chance of any breakthrough on the many disputes between the world’s largest economies, which also include US efforts to hold back China’s semiconductor industry and to stem the flow of the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl and its precursor chemicals from China.
Blinken was originally scheduled to visit in February but abruptly scrapped his plans as the US protested against – and later shot down – what it said was a Chinese spy balloon flying over its soil.
Biden played down the balloon episode as Blinken was heading to China, saying: “I don’t think the leadership knew where it was and knew what was in it and knew what was going on.”
“I think it was more embarrassing than it was intentional,” Biden told reporters on Saturday.
Biden said he hoped to again meet Xi after their lengthy and strikingly cordial meeting in November on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Bali, where they agreed on Blinken’s visit.
“I’m hoping that, over the next several months, I’ll be meeting with Xi again and talking about legitimate differences we have but also how there’s areas we can get along,” Biden said.
The two leaders are likely to attend the next G20 summit, in September in New Delhi, and Xi is invited to travel to San Francisco in November when the US hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
With Reuters and Agence France-Presse
