Espionage, Taiwan, Ukraine…: the list of files to be cleared with China is long for Antony Blinken. The US Secretary of State arrived in Beijing on Sunday for the highest-level visit by a US diplomat in nearly five years.
If no one expects major progress, the idea remains to initiate a diplomatic thaw and to maintain a dialogue to “responsibly manage the Sino-American relationship”, according to the State Department. Because time is running out. Next year will be an election deadline both in the United States and in Taiwan, which China considers to be one of its provinces that it must reunite, by force if necessary.
Blinken moderately optimistic
Bilateral tensions are high and a trifle can turn things around. This visit was thus initially scheduled for February, in the wake of the meeting last November between US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Indonesia. But it was canceled at the last minute. In question: the overflight of American territory by a Chinese balloon, accused by Washington of being a “spy” aircraft, while Beijing assured that it was a meteorological machine having deviated from its trajectory.
Speaking in Washington before his departure, Antony Blinken wanted to be moderately optimistic. This two-day trip should “open direct lines of communication so that our two countries can manage our relationship responsibly, including by addressing certain challenges and misperceptions and to avoid miscalculations”, he said. -he declares. “Intense competition requires continuous diplomacy to ensure that it does not turn into confrontation or conflict,” he added.
Main point of friction between the two powers: Taiwan. Beijing carried out historic military maneuvers there in August, in retaliation for the visit to the island of Nancy Pelosi, then leader of the House of Representatives, as part of an Asian tour.
Beijing wants “mutual respect”
Ahead of Antony Blinken’s visit, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the United States should “respect China’s core concerns” and work with Beijing. “The United States must abandon the illusion of dealing with China “from a position of strength”. China and the United States should develop relations based on mutual respect and equality, respecting their differences.”
For Danny Russel, a former senior official of the US State Department, each party has a stake in this visit: China hopes to avoid new American restrictions on technology and any new support for Taiwan. The United States, on the other hand, wishes to prevent any incident likely to lead to a military confrontation.