Antony Blinken has arrived in Beijing for a 2-day visit, which comes almost after 5 years, amidst increasing tensions between the U.S. and China
The United States (U.S.) Secretary of State – Antony Blinken has arrived in Beijing for a 2-day visit, which comes almost after 5 years, amidst increasing tensions between the U.S. and China.
Blinken would be meeting the Foreign Minister of China – Qin Gang, at the start of two days of talks with Chinese officials. The main goal of the talks is to stabilise a relationship that has become extremely tense.
The visit follows the discovery of a suspected spy balloon above the U.S. in February 2023 that prompted him to delay a trip that had been planned for the same month. A balloon, which China says was monitoring weather, drifted across the continental U.S. before being destroyed by American military aircraft.
Both China and the U.S. want to reopen lines of high-level communication and stabilise relations that have become strained since the balloon incident. But the U.S. has been lowering expectations for the trip, and both sides have made clear they expect no breakthrough. Besides, China has staged military exercises near Taiwan, which Beijing says is an integral part of China. The U.S. maintains close relations with Taiwan. In recent months, the U.S. has reached deals on troop deployments in southern Japan and the northern Philippines, both strategically close to Taiwan.
Before leaving for China, Blinken tweeted,
Ahead of my trip to the People’s Republic of China, I spoke to Foreign Minister @FMParkJin to discuss regional and global challenges, including the DPRK’s dangerous and destabilizing actions. The U.S.-ROK Alliance is stronger than ever, and we will strengthen it further.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) June 17, 2023
During the visit, the U.S. and China would discuss various agendas, including the Ukraine war, trade disputes over advanced computer technologies, the fentanyl drug epidemic in the U.S., Chinese human rights conduct and North Korea’s continuous testing of missiles.
Chinese officials have reacted coolly to Blinken’s visit, questioning whether the U.S. is sincere in its efforts to mend relations. It needs to be clarified whether Blinken will be meeting the President of China – Xi Jinping.
Blinken is the highest-ranking U.S. government official to visit China since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021.
The President of the U.S. – Joe Biden Biden, said he hoped to meet Xi Jinping again after a lengthy meeting in November 2022 on the sidelines of a Group of 20 (G20) Summit in Bali, where the 2 leaders agreed on Blinken’s visit. The 2 leaders are likely to attend the next G20 Summit in India in September 2023. Xi has also been invited to travel to San Francisco in November 2023 when the U.S. hosts leaders from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) grouping.
