{"id":22421,"date":"2024-04-26T10:13:25","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T07:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/?p=22421"},"modified":"2024-04-26T19:04:16","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T16:04:16","slug":"us-secretary-of-state-antony-blinken-visits-china-seeking-stability-in-relations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/us-secretary-of-state-antony-blinken-visits-china-seeking-stability-in-relations\/","title":{"rendered":"US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits China seeking stability in relations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Beijing on April 24, 2024, for his second visit to China within a year. His three-day visit comes at a time as the United States increases pressure on its rival concerning its support for Russia, while also aiming to handle tensions with Beijing.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Blinken&#8217;s trip represents the most recent significant interaction between the two countries. China and the U.S. are seeking stability in relations over global trade to military dialogue, these interactions have helped alleviate the public hostility that plunged relations to unprecedented depths early last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Blinken started his visit from Shanghai, China\u2019s largest financial hub, where he watched a Chinese basketball playoff game featuring teams with American players. Hid casual tour to Shanghai marked the first visit by a U.S. secretary of state to the vibrant city since Hillary Clinton in 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Blinken\u2019s tour is focused on easing the tensions between the two rival economies. Both American and Chinese hardliners had previously hinted at the possibility of a new Cold War between the nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I\u2019m in China to make progress on issues that matter most to the American people, including curbing fentanyl trafficking. We will discuss work underway to fulfill commitments made by <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@POTUS<\/a> and President Xi last fall, as well as the areas where we have significant disagreements. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/YMVN4LA6uD\">pic.twitter.com\/YMVN4LA6uD<\/a><\/p>\u2014 Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SecBlinken\/status\/1783150721736569131?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 24, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote> <script><\/script><br><br><strong>Blinken meets Xi Jinping<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Blinken capped his visit to Beijing by meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping. Chinese leader Xi Jinping said the U.S. and China should be \u201cpartners rather than adversaries\u201d as he met with top American diplomat in Beijing\u2019s cavernous Great Hall of the People.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Blinken stressed the importance of \u201cresponsibly managing\u201d the differences between the United States and China. \u201cWe are committed to maintaining and strengthening lines of communication to advance that agenda, and again deal responsibly with our differences so we avoid any miscommunications, any misperceptions, any miscalculations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Blinken also raised the issue of China\u2019s support for Russia during his meeting with President Xi Jinping. The U.S. Secretary of State conveyed to Xi Jinping a cautionary message, stating that the United States and its European counterparts stand prepared to enforce fresh sanctions on Chinese enterprises unless they cease providing materials and equipment to support the Russian arms sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.<br><br>Blinken stressed the importance of \u201cresponsibly managing\u201d differences and avoiding miscalculations.<br><br>Xi told the top US diplomat that China and US should be \u201cpartners rather than rivals\u201d. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/MB9z4C5OrL\">pic.twitter.com\/MB9z4C5OrL<\/a><\/p>&mdash; IRIA (@IRIA_Research) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IRIA_Research\/status\/1783886841650770181?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 26, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p>While speaking to the journalists about his three-day visit, Blinken acknowledged advancements in relations between the two countries since the November summit in San Francisco between Xi Jinping and Joe Biden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He highlighted collaborative efforts in counter-narcotics, and the resumption of communication between the two nations&#8217; militaries, and disclosed plans for the inaugural U.S.-China discussions concerning the security implications of artificial intelligence development, scheduled to occur in the forthcoming weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br><strong>Trade policy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that at a meeting with China&#8217;s top official in Shanghai, Chen Jining, Blinken raised concerns about China&#8217;s &#8220;trade policies and non-market economic practices.&#8221; Blinken also &#8220;stressed that the United States seeks a healthy economic competition with the PRC and a level playing field for U.S. workers and firms operating in China.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For years, China&#8217;s substantial trade surplus with the U.S., coupled with allegations of intellectual property theft and other practices deemed discriminatory against American businesses operating in China, has been a major point of issue in bilateral relations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Responding to Blinken\u2019s comments later in the day, the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wang Wenbin, told a regular media conference that &#8220;China has always been carrying out economic and trade cooperation in accordance with the principles of the market.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Blinken-Shanghai-visit.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1016\" height=\"678\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Blinken-Shanghai-visit.jpg?resize=1016%2C678&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken with with Shanghai Party Secretary Chen Jining\" class=\"wp-image-22423\" style=\"width:839px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Blinken-Shanghai-visit.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Blinken-Shanghai-visit.jpg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Blinken-Shanghai-visit.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Blinken-Shanghai-visit.jpg?resize=589%2C392&amp;ssl=1 589w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Blinken-Shanghai-visit.jpg?w=1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1016px) 100vw, 1016px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><sup>U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meeting with Shanghai Party Secretary Chen Jining in Shanghai, China, on April 25, 2024. (Image Credit: Twitter\/@SecBlinken)<\/sup><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We hope that the U.S. side will respect the principle of fair competition, abide by WTO rules, and work with China to create favorable conditions for the sound and steady development of China-US economic and trade relations,&#8221; said Wang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During his time in Shanghai, Blinken engaged in discussions with business figures and met with American and Chinese students at New York University&#8217;s nearby campus. There, he emphasized the importance of intercultural exchanges as &#8220;the best way to make sure that we start by hopefully understanding one another&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br><strong>Meetings with top-brass<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After concluding his trip in Shanghai, Blinken headed to Beijing where he met with his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The meeting, which occurred on the concluding day of Blinken&#8217;s trip to China, took place amidst an expansion of discussions between the nations in recent months. However, despite this, differences have intensified and taken on greater significance, prompting worries about the possibility of conflict between the globe&#8217;s two largest economies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Spoke with U.S. business leaders about the challenges and opportunities they face doing business here in China. I emphasized that both the U.S. and China can benefit from healthy economic competition, but that competition must be fair. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/gkAtL5hpoB\">pic.twitter.com\/gkAtL5hpoB<\/a><\/p>\u2014 Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SecBlinken\/status\/1783446009072308365?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 25, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>As the pair settled into their opening session, Wang told Blinken that the &#8220;giant ship&#8221; of the China-U.S. relationship had stabilized, &#8220;but negative factors in the relationship are still increasing and building&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;And the relationship is facing all kinds of disruptions. China&#8217;s legitimate development rights have been unreasonably suppressed and our core interests are facing challenges,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both Blinken and Wang emphasized the necessity of maintaining open lines of communication, yet they also expressed concern over ongoing and deepening rifts that pose a threat to global security. These divisions came into sharp focus earlier this week when U.S. President Joe Biden signed a substantial foreign aid bill containing elements perceived as problematic by the Chinese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reached a five-point consensus during talks in Beijing., according to Chinese media CGTN. These include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Both sides agreed to stabilize and develop China-U.S. relations, following guidance from their respective heads of state.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>High-level exchanges and contacts will be maintained across various fields, including diplomacy, economy, and military.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The first meeting of the China-U.S. intergovernmental dialogue on artificial intelligence (AI) will be held, along with consultations on Asia-Pacific affairs, and maritime issues.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Measures will be taken to expand cultural and people-to-people exchanges, including welcoming students and hosting the 14th China-U.S. Tourism Leadership Summit in Xi&#8217;an.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Consultations on international and regional hotspot issues will continue, with strengthened communication between special envoys.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><br><strong>Russia support<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Beijing, Blinken switched gears to emphasize China&#8217;s backing of Russia&#8217;s defense industry. Before the meeting between Blinken and Wang Yi, U.S. State Department officials indicated that Washington was ready to act against Chinese firms aiding in the replenishment of Russia&#8217;s defense sector. In addition to addressing the conflict in Ukraine, the agenda encompassed U.S. support for Taiwan and trade relations between Washington and Beijing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLet me stress again that China\u2019s right to conduct normal trade and economic exchanges with Russia and other countries in the world\u2026 should not be interfered with or disrupted,\u201d China\u2019s Foreign Minister Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said while answering a question about the U.S.\u2019s concerns over China-Russia trades.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/US-China-summit-Nov2023.jpeg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"560\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/US-China-summit-Nov2023.jpeg?resize=900%2C560&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"US China summit in San Francisco\" class=\"wp-image-19353\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/US-China-summit-Nov2023.jpeg?w=900&amp;ssl=1 900w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/US-China-summit-Nov2023.jpeg?resize=300%2C187&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/US-China-summit-Nov2023.jpeg?resize=768%2C478&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><sup>Biden and Xi led the expanded bilateral meeting in California on November 15, 2023. The meeting included a dozen government officials from China and the U.S. including U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan as well as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Chief of Staff Cai Qi. (Image Credit: Xinhua)<\/sup><\/em><br><br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><br><strong>Differences over South China Sea and Taiwan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The two top diplomats also discussed matters related to the security affairs of the South China Sea and Taiwan. China&#8217;s persistent efforts to assert its contested sovereignty over the entire South China Sea have led to numerous confrontations with neighboring nations, including several allies of the US. One such ally is the Philippines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wang Yi outlined, without being specific, Chinese complaints about U.S. policies on the South China Sea and&nbsp;Taiwan, saying: &#8220;China&#8217;s legitimate development rights have been unreasonably&nbsp;suppressed and our core interests are facing challenges.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Blinken emphasized that the Biden administration highly values dialogue with China, even on the issues of disputes. While noting some improvement in relations over the past year, he acknowledged that discussions would remain challenging.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/South-China-Sea-claims-map.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"877\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/South-China-Sea-claims-map.jpg?resize=877%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Island claims in the South China Sea\" class=\"wp-image-10456\" style=\"width:841px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/South-China-Sea-claims-map.jpg?resize=877%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 877w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/South-China-Sea-claims-map.jpg?resize=257%2C300&amp;ssl=1 257w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/South-China-Sea-claims-map.jpg?resize=768%2C896&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/South-China-Sea-claims-map.jpg?w=1028&amp;ssl=1 1028w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 877px) 100vw, 877px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><sup>Island claims in the South China Sea. (Image Credit: VOA\/WikiCommons)<\/sup><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Beijing on April 24, 2024, for his second visit to China within a year. His three-day visit comes at a time as the United States increases pressure on its rival concerning its support for Russia, while also aiming to handle tensions with Beijing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16520,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[124,1,125],"tags":[137,380,45,134,377,113,303,169,296,7],"class_list":["post-22421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific","category-news","category-united-states","tag-asia","tag-asia-pacific","tag-china","tag-economy","tag-indo-pacific","tag-security","tag-south-china-sea","tag-taiwan","tag-trade","tag-u-s"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/US-Blinken-meets-China-Wang.jpg?fit=690%2C370&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7jJWb-5PD","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22421"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22438,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22421\/revisions\/22438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}