The U.S. State Department told Phoenix Satellite TV reporters on the 22nd that U.S. Secretary of State Blinken will discuss with China during his visit to China this week on areas of cooperation and differences between China and the United States, and Blinken's visit has nothing to do with the two bills that the U.S. Congress may pass this week to force TikTok to divest and aid to Taiwan. In addition, the head of the North America and Oceania Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a media briefing on the 22nd, pointing out that Blinken's visit to China is part of the implementation of the San Francisco meeting between the two heads of state, maintaining dialogue, managing differences, promoting cooperation, and strengthening coordination in international affairs.
US: Blinken's visit to China has nothing to do with Congressional vote on China-related bills
The U.S. Senate is expected to vote this week on a bill to force TikTok divestiture, which passed the House of Representatives over the weekend by a vote of 360 to 58. Before U.S. Secretary of State Blinken left for China on the 24th, the U.S. State Department refused to say whether Blinken would communicate with China about TikTok.
Phoenix TV reporter Wang Bingru:
Will Secretary Blinken continue the conversation between President Biden and President Xi on TikTok, and how will he move forward with this issue?
US State Department Spokesperson Miller:
I don't want to go into the specifics of this visit, but broadly speaking, we will discuss progress in a number of areas. President Biden and President Xi met last year and agreed to work together in these areas, including artificial intelligence, people-to-people exchanges, and combating drug trafficking. We're going to raise our concerns, and we're going to talk about a range of international issues, including the Middle East, the war in Ukraine.
In addition to the mandatory TikTok stripping bill, the package passed by the House of Representatives on the 20th also includes $8.1 billion to aid the Indo-Pacific region, including Taiwan. On the eve of Blinken's visit to China, the U.S. Congress put pressure on China, and the U.S. State Department said that the two were not related.
Phoenix TV reporter Wang Bingru:
The Senate is going to vote on two China-related bills, one to aid Taiwan and one to TikTok, and do you think those bills gave Blinken some leverage before he began negotiations on his visit to China?
US State Department Spokesperson Miller:
No, I don't think the two are related.
In addition to aid to the Indo-Pacific region, the package includes aid to Ukraine and Israel. The Democratic-controlled Senate is expected to vote on the aid bill as soon as the 23rd, and then send it to US President Joe Biden for signature into effect.
Foreign Ministry on Blinken's visit to China: China and the United States cannot clash and confront each other
In response to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to China from April 24 to 26, the head of the North America and Oceania Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a media briefing on the 22nd.
The person in charge said that for Secretary of State Blinken's visit, China will mainly focus on five major goals. First, establish a correct understanding. China and the United States are two major countries that cannot refrain from interacting with each other, let alone engaging in conflict and confrontation. China-US relations should stabilize and improve, and move forward along a stable, healthy, and sustainable path. Second, dialogue should be strengthened to effectively manage differences. In particular, the US must not touch China's red lines on issues such as Taiwan, democracy and human rights, the road system, and the right to development. China firmly opposes the politicization of economic, trade, scientific and technological issues by the US, and its meddling in the South China Sea issue and sowing discord between China and ASEAN.
In addition, the two countries should also promote mutually beneficial cooperation and jointly shoulder the responsibilities of major countries. The international community is extremely dissatisfied and disappointed that the United States exclusively vetoed Palestine as a full member of the United Nations in the Security Council. The US should work with other member states to promote a comprehensive ceasefire in Gaza as soon as possible, and China will make clear demands on the US side in this regard.
Mainland scholars: Blinken's visit to China focuses on economy and trade, and the Taiwan Strait
After U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's visit to China, the U.S.-China Financial Working Group and the U.S.-China Economic Working Group held their fourth meetings, followed by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announcing the launch of a "Section 301 investigation" targeting China's maritime, logistics and shipbuilding industries, and the White House announcing plans to impose new restrictions on Chinese steel and aluminum products. Some scholars of American studies believe that Blinken's first stop in China is Shanghai, or to further communicate on Sino-US economic and trade issues.
In addition, less than a month before the inauguration of the new leader of China's Taiwan region, scholars believe that one of the key contents of Blinken's visit to China is to ensure peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and avoid miscalculation or conflict.
Scholars believe that the current period of stable recovery and improvement of China-US relations should be regarded as a positive signal that frequent high-level interactions should be regarded as positive signs, and that despite the complexity of promoting the development of China-US relations, the two sides are still the most important partners of each other.
Source: Phoenix Satellite TV Information Channel
Editor: Mu Mu