On April 23, local time, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken departed from Washington for China. Blinken will visit China from April 24 to 26, and according to the itinerary announced by the U.S. State Department, Blinken will visit Shanghai and Beijing successively. Blinken's visit to China is expected to discuss bilateral, regional, and global hotspot issues with Chinese officials. Blinken's visit is his second visit to China in less than a year.
American Chamber of Commerce: Blinken visited China to maintain communication on difficult issues
The latest issue of the "White Paper on American Business in China" released by the American Chamber of Commerce in China on the 23rd is the longest since its release, covering more than 100 core policy recommendations for specific industries, including calling on China to continue to firmly implement reform and opening up in the economic field, allowing foreign-funded enterprises to compete fairly with domestic enterprises, and clarifying legal requirements related to national security. In response to the tensions between China and the United States, which are of most concern to businesses, the white paper calls for high-level communication and more conciliatory rhetoric.
In response to a question from Phoenix TV, Tamson Centom, chairman of the chamber of commerce, also said that Blinken's visit to China this week also shows the willingness of the two sides to maintain communication on complex and difficult issues, which will help stabilize bilateral relations.
AmCham China Chairman Tamson Tambar:
His visit will not be as long as Yellen's, but he will meet with the business community and hold official talks. While we expect these issues to be difficult conversations for both sides to try to resolve difficult issues, it also shows that the two governments are in communication on difficult issues. This contributes to the stability of the relationship between the two countries, which is also a point that our member companies consider very important.
In response to the recent announcement by the United States to launch a "Section 301 investigation" on China's maritime, logistics and shipbuilding industries, and consider imposing tariffs on the steel and aluminum industries, Tamson also said at the meeting that the Chamber of Commerce opposes dumping in principle, but believes that the relevant investigation should be conducted in an objective and scientific manner, and opposes its politicization.
AmCham China Chairman Tamson Tambar:
Our message to both governments is that anti-dumping investigations should be conducted in an objective, scientific manner and should not be politicized. Anti-dumping investigations should not be used as a political tool, but should be fully in line with their original design, which is to create and maintain a level playing field by compensating technically dumped goods.
Although there are signs of intensification of economic and trade frictions between China and the United States, Tensen also pointed out that recently, the chamber of commerce has met with Chinese and American officials separately and felt that the two governments have a willingness to maintain stable relations. Another survey released by the Chamber of Commerce in February this year showed that the U.S.-China relationship has been the top concern for companies for the fifth year in a row, but the attention has declined, and 30% of companies expect bilateral relations to improve in 2024.
Phoenix Watch: Blinken's visit to China shows that China and the United States will have a fierce confrontation from the perspective of the two countries
On the eve of Blinken's visit to China, China put forward five key goals and explicitly urged the US to respect China's bottom line. As far as Blinken and his entourage are concerned, what issues will the US focus on, and what are the similarities and differences between China and the United States?
In October 2023, after the Chinese and US heads of state met in San Francisco and reached a consensus, senior officials of China and the United States have continued to interact with each other with the aim of strengthening dialogue and exchanges between China and the United States and conducting in-depth discussions on some sensitive issues.
Yesterday, the head of the North America and Oceania Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China gave a background briefing to the media, saying that the Chinese side will focus on five main goals of Blinken's visit, including establishing correct understanding, strengthening dialogue, effectively managing differences, promoting mutually beneficial cooperation, and jointly shouldering the responsibilities of major countries. These five goals are also five topics, which belong to China's principled position.
On the other hand, the United States has also raised four major topics, including the Russia-Ukraine war, the situation in the Middle East, the Taiwan issue in the South China Sea, and the so-called human rights and promoting cooperation between China and the United States in combating drug smuggling. Of these four major issues, except for the fight against drugs, which is positive, all the others are negative. In other words, Blinken came prepared this time and was ready for a fierce confrontation with China.
Blinken came to China this time with carrots and sticks in his pocket, and the number of sticks is more than carrots, which is-for-tat. Including the news that during Blinken's visit to China, he will express his dissatisfaction with China's continued supply of key technologies and products to Russia, and even consider imposing sanctions on Chinese financial institutions and other entities. Therefore, Blinken really wants to "show his tiger teeth and show his big stick" this time, and he will have a face-to-face confrontation with China.
Of course, China is also fully prepared, and it can be seen from these five goals that they are all in response to the four major issues raised by the US side, which are clearly targeted and uncompromising, and are all principled and positional, including resolutely safeguarding the country's core interests, democracy and human rights, road system, and development rights. Therefore, although Blinken's three-day visit will play a certain role in stabilizing the future relationship between China and the United States, I am skeptical about the actual results.
We hope that China and the United States can achieve some constructive and positive results through exchanges and cooperation and in-depth discussions, but the current atmosphere of China-US relations determines that most of Blinken's visits to China this time are for confrontation.
Source: Phoenix Satellite TV Information Channel
Editor: Mu Mu