Finance

Blinken Meets With Xi Jinping In Beijing As U.S. And China Try To Address Tensions

06/19/2023
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Topline

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing Monday following high-level talks with the country’s top diplomat and foreign minister as part of an effort to address tensions between the U.S. and China, which have continued to worsen over the past couple of years.

Key Facts

Xi told Blinken he hoped the U.S. would adopt a “rational and pragmatic attitude” that would “stabilize and improve Sino-U.S. relations,” according to a statement issued by China’s foreign ministry.

Without mentioning exact details, Xi also noted that the talks with Blinken had yielded agreements between the two countries on certain issues, while progress has been made on others, Bloomberg reported, citing Chinese state-run media.

Blinken’s meeting with Xi follows two other high-level meetings with China’s foreign minister Qin Gang and top diplomat Wang Yi.

Wang, who is also a member of the Chinese Communist Party’s all-powerful politburo, appeared to blame Washington for the bilateral tensions and said it was now necessary to choose between “dialogue or confrontation, cooperation or conflict.”

China’s top diplomat also asked the U.S. to stop “hyping up” theories that painted China as a threat, and urged Washington to “truly adhere” to the One China principle and stop supporting the Taiwan independence movement.

The U.S. State Department in response simply noted that the meeting between Blinken and Wang was “candid and productive.”

Crucial Quote

Following Blinken’s meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Sunday, the state department issued a statement saying the talks were “candid, substantive, and constructive.” The statement added: “The Secretary emphasized the importance of diplomacy and maintaining open channels of communication across the full range of issues to reduce the risk of misperception and miscalculation.”

What To Watch For

President Joe Biden told reporters on Saturday that he was hoping that “over the next several months I’ll be meeting Xi again.” The president said he intends to talk about “legitimate differences we have but also…areas we can get along.” In a press conference on Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said she had no details to offer on if any meeting between the two leaders over the coming months.

Key Background

Ties between China and the U.S. have fallen to their lowest point in decades over a multitude of geopolitical issues. Tensions between the two sides rose sharply earlier this year after the U.S. military shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon after it flew across the U.S. mainland. The tensions further worsened after Blinken met with Wang at a security conference in Munich and accused Beijing of planning to provide lethal aid to Russia to support its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Blinken said he told Wang that from Washington’s point of view, “this would be a serious problem.”

Further Reading

Xi Tells Blinken He Hopes China Visit Stabilizes Ties With US (Bloomberg)

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2023/06/19/blinken-meets-with-xi-jinping-in-beijing-as-us-and-china-try-to-address-tensions/