Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will meet with China’s leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday, seeking to hold together a troubled relationship despite disputes over the economy, national security and friction. geopolitics in East Asia, the Middle East and Ukraine.
Both China and the United States have said they expected progress on some smaller pragmatic fronts, including improving communications between their militaries and easing travel between the two countries. But they remain deadlocked on key strategic issues, including trade policies and territorial conflicts in the South China Sea and over Taiwan. Both sides recognize the danger of the relationship leading to further conflict.
The Biden administration is deeply concerned that cheap Chinese exports are threatening American jobs and is concerned about China’s support for Russia in the Ukraine war. And China has accused the United States of working to encircle Chinese interests in the Pacific.
Earlier in the day, Blinken spent more than five hours with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in meetings and a working lunch at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing.
In his comments, Wang adopted a somewhat more conciliatory tone than in the past, telling Blinken that “the China-U.S. relationship is beginning to stabilize” and that its future would depend on the decisions of both countries. During Blinken’s visit last year, Wang blamed deteriorating ties with the United States, which he said he needed to “reflect on himself.”
But Wang also warned Friday that negative factors in the relationship were still “rising and growing.”
“The relationship is facing all kinds of disruptions,” Wang said Friday. “China’s legitimate development rights have been unjustifiably suppressed and our fundamental interests face challenges.”
“I hope that we can make some progress on the issues that our presidents agreed that we should cooperate on, but also clarify our differences, our intentions and make it very clear where we stand,” Blinken responded.
Among other goals, U.S. officials want China to move to stop the flow into the United States of chemicals used to make fentanyl and strengthen communication between the countries’ militaries to try to avoid descending into war. Chinese officials said they would promote more cultural exchanges between the countries and pressure the United States to end interrogations of Chinese students at the border.
In recent weeks, U.S. officials have begun to raise concerns about China’s economic assistance to Russia with greater urgency. China has denied providing weapons to Russia’s war effort, which Washington has said would be a red line, but U.S. officials say it is still boosting the Russian defense industry by selling components that can be used for civilian or military purposes. .