A few days ago, US Secretary of Defense Austin said that he hoped to take the opportunity of the Shangri-La dialogue to meet with Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu. Austin said that China and the United States, as the world's two largest military powers, must have the ability to deal with potential crises, which requires the United States to pick up the phone and directly contact the Chinese high-level.
Austin stressed that he had tried to get in touch with his Chinese counterparts and send out invitations to talks, but these were ultimately lost, but he would not give up, looking forward to meeting Lee Shangfu face-to-face during the trip to Singapore.
It can be said that there has been too much news about the Biden administration's desire to engage with high-level Chinese officials in recent times, whether it is President Biden, or ministerial-level senior officials such as Austin and Blinken, they have knocked on China's door. However, it is embarrassing that so far the news that no US officials have visited China has been confirmed by the Chinese side. In other words, the current situation of the United States is very passive.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Austin
In response to the Biden administration's urgent search for multi-department contacts with China, foreign media described it as the United States giving up chips. Bloomberg wrote that the Biden administration is eagerly promoting a series of meetings or telephone communication with China at all levels, regardless of the risk of losing chips, but this move will make the United States look weak and lead to confusion in Washington's overall strategy.
It is reported that in the past two months, the White House has continuously released signals to restart high-level talks between China and the United States. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said on many occasions that he is ready to visit China. In addition, the US Treasury Secretary, the Trade Representative, the President's Special Envoy on Climate and others have also had such plans.
However, it is worth warning that behind the frequent shouting of China by the United States for contact lies their careful opportunity, that is, to leave the responsibility to China and achieve the purpose of "dumping the pot". Taking the Sino-US defense ministers' meeting as an example, the United States did not mention its artificial obstacles, but instead pressured China to accept it through the media and other means, which is obvious "diplomatic coercion".
Shangri-La Dialogue
The Financial Times reported that although the White House wanted to arrange for the Chinese and US defense ministers to meet in the third parliament, it was refused, and the Chinese side has told the US side that the possibility of the two defense ministers meeting during the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore is very small.
In response to this report by foreign media, the Chinese Foreign Ministry made it clear when answering a reporter's question a few days ago, and spokesman Wang Wenbin said that it is recommended to learn from the relevant Chinese authorities.
In fact, in my opinion, the message conveyed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is very obvious, that is, the outside world does not need to break the casserole and ask the end, when the time is ripe and the relevant conditions are met, the matter can naturally move forward, otherwise, as you can see, US officials still fail to visit China as desired.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin
Last year, Austin met with then Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe on the same occasion, and the reason why the situation has become complicated this year lies in the United States, and until the current Biden administration has not lifted sanctions against Defense Minister Li Shangfu.
Moreover, although Washington has tried to create an atmosphere in which China refuses to exchange internationally, high-level communication between China and the United States has not actually stopped.
On May 8, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang met with U.S. Ambassador to China Burns. Immediately afterwards, on the 11th, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao should meet with the US ambassador to China. From May 10 to 11, local time, Director Wang Yi also met with US National Security Adviser Sullivan in Vienna. White House officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the meeting lasted nearly 10 hours.
Wang Yi and Sullivan
In the past four days, three high-level meetings between China and the United States have dispelled relevant rumors from the outside world, and the Chinese side has once again explained to the US side the crux of the relationship between the two countries.
Qin Gang pointed out that China and the United States reached a consensus in Bali last year, but since then the United States has carried out a series of wrong acts, which have led to the interference of the dialogue and cooperation agenda agreed by the two sides. The United States cannot demand communication while suppressing and containing China, and must earnestly respect China's bottom line and red line and correctly handle the Taiwan issue.
During the Vienna meeting, Director Wang Yi comprehensively expounded China's position on the Taiwan issue and gave a profound explanation on removing obstacles to Sino-US relations, stopping the decline and stabilizing.
U.S.-China relations
It is understood that after the meeting, the two sides reached a consensus and agreed to continue to make good use of this strategic communication channel.
In fact, the importance of high-level contacts between China and the United States lies in timely management of the risks existing in the two countries, the realization of political mutual trust between the two sides, and at the same time to promote China-US relations back to the right track.
If after China has spent a lot of diplomatic energy to contact the United States, Washington still refuses to show sincerity in front of each other, then the result of whether the Sino-US defense ministers' meeting can be achieved is doomed.