(Shanghai) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in China on Wednesday for his second visit in less than a year, with the mission of increasing pressure on Beijing on various issues, such as its support for Russia, while seeking greater stability.
The head of American diplomacy began his trip to Shanghai, noted AFP. He has to attend a basketball match between two teams with American players in their ranks.
This stop, intended to demonstrate the warm ties between Americans and Chinese, is the first in Shanghai by an American secretary of state since 2010.
Mr. Blinken will hold talks with Chinese leaders in Beijing on Friday during which he is expected to plead for restraint as a new president prepares to be inaugurated in Taiwan.
He should also raise American concerns about China’s trade practices, which Washington considers anti-competitive, a key issue for President Joe Biden in this election year.
Antony Blinken is also in China to ease tensions between the world’s two largest economies, which have eased significantly since his June visit.
It was followed by a meeting between Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in San Francisco in November which led to a resumption of contacts between the two armies and cooperation in the fight against the manufacture of fentanyl, a synthetic drug. wreaking havoc in the United States.
Sino-American relations are at a “different stage than where we were a year ago, when bilateral relations were at a historic low,” a senior American official stressed before Antony Blinken’s visit.
“We also believe (…) that responsible management of competition does not mean that we should renounce taking measures to protect the national interests of the United States,” he declared.
Pressure against support for Moscow
The desire of Joe Biden’s government to collaborate with China stands in stark contrast to efforts to isolate Russia since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
If the Chinese do not directly supply weapons to Russia, Washington has accused them in recent weeks of delivering dual-use equipment and technologies to this country which facilitate its rearmament effort, the most important since Soviet times.
“If China wants to have friendly relations with Europe and other countries on the one hand, it cannot fuel on the other hand what is the greatest threat to European security since the end of the War cold,” Blinken said Friday after a G7 meeting in Italy.
The US government called the deal with Xi Jinping on fentanyl a success. According to a senior State Department official, China appears to have taken initial steps, which Mr. Blinken will ask it to expand on.
“More regular repressive measures (…) would send a strong signal” of its commitment, he noted.
Taiwan is among the sensitive issues likely to be raised.
The US Congress gave the green light on Tuesday to a $95 billion military assistance package for Washington’s allies such as Taipei.
China warned in response that US military support for the island only increased the “risk of conflict”, threatening “resolute and effective measures to protect its sovereignty, security and territorial integrity”.
TikTok
Another source of friction is the law passed by the US Congress on Tuesday requiring that the TikTok application be sold by its Chinese parent company ByteDance, under penalty of being excluded from the US market.
Questioned, the spokesperson for Chinese diplomacy, Wang Wenbin, on Wednesday simply referred to “China’s principled position” in this matter.
In March, China called on Washington to “respect the rules of the market economy” and indicated that it would take “all necessary measures to preserve its legitimate rights and interests”.
Joe Biden will face Donald Trump in the presidential election in a few months, who championed a hard line towards Beijing.
Yun Sun, a researcher at the Stimson Center in the American capital, observes that Chinese leaders are waiting before this election.
“The Chinese understand that the Biden administration is unlikely to deliver good news on trade because it doesn’t fit with the election platform,” she said.
For Chinese leaders, this year, “the priority is to maintain the stability of relations,” continued Yun Sun.
“Until there is clarity on the next administration, I don’t think they see a better strategy,” she added.
reference: www.lapresse.ca