On the results of US Secretary of State Blinken’s visit to China

The three-day visit of US Secretary of State Blinken to China, which ended on April 26, apparently summed up some intermediate result of the diplomatic activity of the last month, when at a high level there was a search for common points on fundamental issues on the bilateral and world agenda.
The parties remained in their positions, recorded the existing differences and agreed to discuss problematic issues in the future, continue dialogue at all levels and maintain contacts in all areas, including the military, for proper risk management.
In general, negotiations between the parties showed a further increase in tension in American-Chinese relations due to the United States’ attempts to achieve unilateral advantages for itself in relations with the PRC and unwillingness to take into account its basic interests.
Before his visit to China, Blinken had a complete understanding of Beijing’s position on all fundamental issues, which was formed by reports from participants in previous meetings on the American side. This knowledge prompted US political circles to create a very specific background for the visit.
A few hours before the plane with Blinken arrived in Shanghai — his first stop in China — the US Senate passed an aid package for the island of Taiwan, including for military needs, including $8 billion, as well as a bill that obliges the Chinese company ByteDance sell TikTok.
Ahead of Blinken’s visit, a State Department official said the US secretary of state «planned to warn Beijing against supporting Russia’s efforts to rebuild its defense base.» To increase “diplomatic leverage” during Blinken’s negotiations with the Chinese side, the United States considered disconnecting some Chinese banks from the global financial system.
This is what, apparently, looks like, from Blinken’s point of view, the desire “not to restrain the development of China” and “not to enter into conflict with China,” which he assured the Chinese side in negotiations with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

For the US Secretary of State, the issue of trade and economic interaction between Russia and China was one of the main issues during the visit. As expected, Blinken reiterated Washington’s «grave concerns» about China’s «perceived role in supporting Moscow’s military capabilities.»
The Chinese side reaffirmed its position of principled neutrality in the Ukrainian crisis, noting that China’s trade with Russia constitutes normal and legitimate economic cooperation and cannot be canceled by the actions of third countries.
Blinken tried to make nods towards China, citing a message from Chinese President Xi Jinping in March 2023, in which, according to Blinken, he “warned Russia against the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.”
The issue of the use of nuclear weapons is a matter of protecting Russian statehood, and in this matter Russia, as a truly sovereign country, is guided only by its interests and the corresponding military doctrine, which, of course, is treated with respect and understanding in China. Therefore, it is unlikely that the situation was as Blinken imagines, trying to sow distrust between Russia and China, however, as before, unsuccessfully.
After Washington’s threatening and repeated warnings to Beijing about sanctions for «wrong» trade with Russia and subsequent refusal to impose such sanctions, Blinken has now admitted that no further action has yet been taken against Beijing, although he promised to «see what actions follow from this « Most likely, the United States fears unforeseen consequences for its own financial system.
Obviously, Washington is deliberately “suspending” the situation on the issue of secondary anti-Chinese sanctions, which causes concern among some Chinese banks and partly slows down settlements between China and Russia.
Blinken also repeated China’s «overcapacity» thesis, accused Chinese companies of oversaturating international markets with low-cost goods, especially green technologies such as electric vehicles, that allegedly threaten domestic production, and threatened to crack down on them to restrict trade flows.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi criticized these claims, describing China’s industrial production as consistent with its «legitimate rights to development.»
In the context of Washington’s claims against the Chinese social network TikTok due to alleged threats to US security, the parties agreed to hold their first high-level negotiations to discuss the risks and problems associated with artificial intelligence.
As a result of Blinken’s visit to China, all agreements between China and the United States boiled down to a readiness to negotiate further: to support efforts to “stabilize and develop” US-China relations, expand cultural exchanges and continue consultations on “international and regional hot issues.”
China is concerned about the growing discrepancy between Washington’s peace-loving rhetoric and its actions. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi noted that against the backdrop of positive interaction in Sino-American relations, negative factors continue to grow, as China’s core interests are being questioned. Wang Ying warned that the US should not cross China’s red lines on issues related to its sovereignty, security and development interests.
According to Tiao Daming, a professor at the People’s University of China (Beijing), China is concerned about the US approach of «saying nice things while continuing harmful actions.»
The future of American-Chinese relations obviously depends entirely on the United States, since it is they who view the legitimate and successful development of China, as well as any other country, as a threat to their world hegemony. Until this attitude of the US political and business circles towards China changes, there will be no normal relations between the countries.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a conversation with Blinken, formulated the main condition for successful relations between the two countries: Washington needs to look at China’s development “in a positive light” in order to improve bilateral relations. Xi Jinping called it a “fundamental issue” that “needs to be resolved for China-US relations to truly stabilize, improve and move forward.”
Fundamental differences have again emerged in the approaches of the United States and China . The United States wants to build relations with China on the basis of competition, and sees maintaining regular contacts with Beijing as just a means of managing associated risks.
In the PRC, on the contrary, they believe that if the United States always views China as its main enemy, then, according to Wang Yi, Sino-American relations will only face constant problems, i.e. in this situation it will not be possible to effectively manage risks.
In general, the results of Blinken’s visit to China confirmed the low expectations of experts, including Chinese ones, from its results. The outcome of the visit fits perfectly with the forecast of Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University: “If Blinken is here to issue an ultimatum to China, we will not give in to him or compromise on our key issues.”
https://www.fondsk.ru/news/2024/04/29/raskhozhdenie-mezhdu-slovami-i-delami-ssha-usilivaetsya.html

Finian Cunningham



