At the regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on April 22, spokesperson Wang Wenbin officially announced that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was invited to pay an official visit to China from April 24 to 26. The Chinese side used the word "invited", but the actual situation was not that China took the initiative to invite it. As early as the summit of the heads of state at the beginning of the month, Biden made it clear that he hoped to arrange Blinken's visit to China, and the Chinese side responded positively and welcomed it. Therefore, Blinken took the initiative to come this time, and China's use of the word "invited" reflects the formality and importance of this visit.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin
When Blinken visited China in June last year, the Chinese side did not mention the word "invited", because at that time, China-US relations had not yet been able to stop the decline and stabilize, and there was no possibility of reaching an important consensus. Now that the interaction mechanism between China and the United States at all levels has basically been restored, and there have been many results of communication, the basis of the talks between China and the United States this time is completely different from last year.
Before Blinken's visit to China, Chinese and US foreign affairs departments also held briefings to introduce each other's expectations for the talks in advance. Therefore, in this meeting, China and the United States opened the skylight to speak brightly. Judging from the official reports of China and the United States, the topics to be discussed between China and the United States during Blinken's visit to China can be divided into three categories.
Blinken
The first is to manage disagreements. It is inevitable that there will be differences between China and the United States, but China has made it clear that differences cannot be allowed to dominate China-US relations. From a macro perspective, the differences between China and the United States mainly stem from the failure of the United States to establish a correct understanding of China. In the previous dialogue between the heads of state of China and the United States, the head of state of the mainland clearly emphasized that establishing a correct understanding at the strategic level is the "first button" that must be buckled between China and the United States. If China and the United States fail to correctly define each other, the problems between China and the United States will not be resolved, and the relations between the two countries will not be better.
It is precisely because the US has not been able to correctly view China's rise in the past and has always regarded China as a "strategic rival" that China and the United States have serious differences on issues such as the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, and economic, trade, and technological issues. Most of these problems are maliciously created by the United States in order to contain and suppress China. If China and the United States can resolve their differences through dialogue and communication, it will of course be the best outcome for each other, but if the US side does not intend to face up to China's concerns, China will never be polite and will take resolute measures to safeguard its own interests. We must clearly convey this to the US side.
U.S.-China relations
The second is cooperation. Despite the intensifying game between China and the United States, the two countries are not in a full-scale confrontation. On the contrary, there are many more issues that can be cooperated. For example, since China-US relations stopped falling and stabilized, the two sides have achieved substantial results on issues such as anti-narcotics and climate change. At present, there is still a lot of potential for China-US cooperation, and the two sides should rebuild mutual trust through dialogue and create a good atmosphere for broader bilateral cooperation.
Then there are regional and global issues, two of which are hot topics where China and the United States will inevitably have an in-depth exchange of views. One is the situation in the Middle East. In the past, the United States has more than once asked China to use its influence and Iran to exercise restraint in dealing with Israel. However, the US itself should also know that in order to ease the current tensions in the Middle East, the key lies in adjusting its own position. If the United States continues to obstruct the Gaza peace process and blindly favors Israel, it will be difficult for the Middle East to usher in peace.
Biden with Netanyahu
The other is the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Recently, the US has been hyping up "Chinese companies supporting the Russian military industry", and even threatened to take measures. The US has hyped up similar topics many times, but China's attitude has always been very clear: the cooperation between China and Russia is normal trade and has nothing to do with the Russia-Ukraine conflict. No matter how much pressure the US exerts, China will never interrupt the normal cooperation between China and Russia. On the contrary, it is the United States that recently approved another military aid to Ukraine. What the US has done will only prolong the conflict and is not conducive to the peaceful settlement of the crisis.
Generally speaking, China and the United States have differences and cooperation, and they are both world powers, so there are many issues to exchange. However, the US side must not only show sincerity but also keep its word, so that the dialogue between China and the United States can be better transformed into substantive results.