2023-06-20 07:00:00
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken managed during his two-day visit to China to ease tensions despite experts being pessimistic about the outcome of the trip due to the extreme deterioration in relations between the two powers.
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Blinken’s stay in Beijing culminated on Monday with a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, a half-hour meeting that was not on the official agenda of the head of US diplomacy and that sends a conciliatory signal from Beijing.
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Xi told Blinken at the beginning of their meeting that state-to-state interactions “should always be based on mutual respect and sincerity” and stressed his “hope” that the US representative’s visit would mean “making positive contributions to stabilize relations” bilaterally. .
More in tune with Qin
On Sunday, the Secretary of State met with the Chinese Foreign Minister, Qin Gang, with whom he met for more hours than planned and then had dinner, while this Monday the appointment was with the head of Chinese diplomacy, Wang Yi , head of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
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The root cause of the decline in China-US relations is that the US side has a wrong perception of China, which leads to the wrong policy.
According to official transcripts released by both sides, the meeting with Qin resulted in “a long, frank, in-depth, and constructive dialogue on the overall China-US relationship and other important issues,” while Wang’s tone with Blinken was something more combative.
Until recently, the Chinese foreign minister especially highlighted the issue of Taiwan, one of the main points of friction between the two countries, and asked Blinken that Washington “respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” and “oppose the independence of Taiwan”.
Wang also told him that “the root cause of the decline in China-US relations is that the US side has a wrong perception of China, which leads to the wrong policy,” and called on Washington to work with Beijing. to “manage differences and avoid strategic accidents”.
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Antony Blinken gives a press conference after his visit to China.
a positive step
In a press conference at the end of his visit, Blinken evaluated the trip as “a positive step” in the objective of managing the bilateral relationship “responsibly”, although “far from it” it has suddenly solved the problems and disagreements between the two powers.
“It was clear that the relationship was at a point of instability and both parties recognized that it had to be stabilized,” he said.
It was clear that the relationship was at a point of instability and both parties recognized that it had to be stabilized.
Blinken considered “all the objectives of the trip” fulfilled, which were “to establish direct channels of communication, address issues of concern and explore cooperation on issues of mutual interest”, among which he cited the climate, global economic stability, health, the fight against fentanyl trafficking and “people to people” exchanges.
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On the table was of course Taiwan, of which the American reiterated that the US does not support “independence”, although he defined as “provocative actions” those carried out by China in the Strait and in the South Sea and called for a peaceful resolution of the differences.
He also recalled Washington’s commitment to ensure that the island “has the ability to defend itself” under the Taiwan Relations Act.
The self-governing island has been one of the protagonists of the escalation of tensions between the two powers in the last year after the visit made to Taipei in August 2022 by the then president of the US Legislature, Nancy Pelosi.
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Qin Gang, Chinese Foreign Minister.
risk reduction
The Secretary of State also replied to Beijing’s accusations that the US is asking for dialogue but in practice is trying to “contain” China.
Blinken denied that this is his country’s claim and considered that a complete decoupling of both economies would be “disastrous”, although he specified that the US will continue to take the measures it deems necessary to preserve its national security.
“There is a profound difference for the United States and for many other countries between risk reduction and decoupling,” he said.
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“We want to see success in all parts of the world, including, of course, major economies like China. It is in our interest. But at the same time, it is not in our interest to provide technology to China that could be used against us,” the diplomat stressed. who mentioned the development of “hypersonic missiles” or the use of advanced means for “repressive purposes”.
Blinken’s visit marks the highest-ranking visit by a US official to China since US President Joe Biden took office in 2021, a period in which bilateral relations have continued to deteriorate due to trade, geopolitical and economic tensions. .
At the end of his stay, the diplomat advanced that other high-level bilateral visits will take place in the coming weeks, although he did not specify in which areas.
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Fentanyl, Ukraine and Americans in prison
China and the United States will also study the possibility of creating a task force to fight against trafficking in fentanyl and chemical precursors used to synthesize drugs, the US Secretary of State announced.
Blinken assured that among the priorities for his country that he raised with the Chinese government was the problem of fentanyl and synthetic opioids, whose consumption represents “a crisis” in the United States, as he stressed during the press conference.
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Images of victims of fentanyl in the United States.
“I have made it clear that we need much greater cooperation to address this critical problem. We have agreed to study the creation of a working group or a joint effort to be able to stop the flow of chemical precursors that have led to this crisis and an increasing number of deaths,” said the US Secretary of State.
Fentanyl is the leading cause of death for people ages 18 to 45 in his country, according to Blinken.
The head of US diplomacy indicated that he also conveyed to the Chinese authorities the “deep concern” of his country and the international community about human rights violations in the Asian country and mentioned, without further details, the Xinjiang Autonomous Region , that of Tibet and Hong Kong.
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In addition, Blinken discussed with his Chinese counterparts the situation of “arbitrarily imprisoned” US citizens and others barred from leaving China.
“There is no higher priority for me than the safety of Americans abroad, and I will continue to work for their release and return,” he added.
The two countries also have opposing positions on the Ukraine conflict, where Washington has been supporting Kiev militarily and financially, while China has avoided condemning the Russian invasion and wants to present itself as a mediator.
Blinken said in that regard that China has reiterated its promise not to send weapons to Moscow. “China has assured us and other countries that it is not and will not deliver lethal aid to Russia for use in Ukraine,” he said.
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Joe Biden and Xi Jinping meeting last November.
Chinese vision
Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated himself on Monday for the “progress” between Beijing and Washington during a meeting with the US Secretary of State.
Blinken met in the afternoon (local time) with President Xi at the imposing Palace of the People in Beijing. “The two sides made progress and found common ground on various specific points,” which were not specified, said Xi Jinping, who described these advances as “a very good thing,” according to a video broadcast by CCTV public television.
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“I hope Secretary Blinken will bring a positive outcome to the stabilization of China-US relations through this visit,” Xi told his interlocutor.
The Chinese president told the US Secretary of State that interactions between states “should always be based on mutual respect and sincerity.”
The meeting between Xi and Blinken, which was not part of the official agenda for the US diplomacy chief’s trip and was confirmed by both parties at the last moment, began at 4:30 p.m. (local time), according to Chinese state media. such as CCTV and Xinhua.
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The meeting raised the tone of the visit, which sought precisely to restore damaged diplomatic ties between the superpowers after years of commercial, territorial and political conflicts.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from AFP and EFE
TIME
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