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"The 'two skins' of the US side will only lead to twists and turns in China-US relations and will not achieve real stability. ”
On the afternoon of April 25, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Beijing for the second leg of his visit to China. In the morning, Blinken visited NYU Shanghai in Shanghai, where he met with faculty and students on topics such as China-US relations and people-to-people exchanges.
Blinken said that China-US relations are the most important and complex relationship in the world, and the two sides should maintain balance, strengthen exchanges and mutual understanding. He said that exchanges between Chinese and American students are the best way for the two countries to avoid miscalculations.
According to the itinerary, Blinken will visit China from the 24th to the 26th, visiting Shanghai and Beijing successively. This is part of the implementation of the consensus reached at the San Francisco summit between the two heads of state, maintaining dialogue, managing differences, advancing cooperation, and strengthening coordination on international affairs.
What is the difference between visiting China twice in less than a year?
This is Blinken's second visit to China in 10 months.
When Blinken visited China for the first time in June last year, the Chinese side characterized the visit as "agreed by both China and the United States." This time, it was "at the invitation of Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs". In addition, in terms of time and itinerary, this time it is one day longer than the last time, and there is one more stop in Shanghai.
"Unlike last year's visit, which was of 'icebreaking' significance, Blinken's visit to China is part of the high-level exchanges between the two countries and is a normal working visit. Wu Xinbo, dean of the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University and director of the Center for American Studies, said that the reason why there was a "temperature difference" in the atmosphere of his two visits to China was because Sino-US relations were in different states at these two points in time.
The last visit to China was full of twists and turns due to the "airship incident" and the unilateral postponement of the visit by the United States, which was regarded as an unreasonable move by China, so Sino-US relations were relatively tense at that time. However, over the past year, there have been frequent high-level exchanges between China and the United States in various fields, especially after the Sino-US summit in San Francisco last year, the relations between the two countries have stabilized and improved, so the "temperature" is significantly higher than last year.
Regarding the topics and objectives of Blinken's visit to China, the head of the North America and Oceania Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs previously said that China mainly focuses on five goals: establishing correct understanding, strengthening dialogue, effectively managing differences, promoting mutually beneficial cooperation, and jointly shouldering the responsibilities of major countries.
According to a statement issued by the U.S. State Department, Blinken's visit has three main goals. The first is to promote high-level progress on key issues between China and the United States. Second, the US hopes to discuss bilateral, regional, and global issues with China in a clear and direct manner. The third is to manage competition responsibly and avoid miscalculations or conflicts. Later, U.S. State Department spokesman Miller further revealed that Blinken will discuss the Middle East crisis, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea with China.
Wu Xinbo said that the United States hopes to seek diplomatic benefits in the election year, so it is more concerned about some short-term issues. However, for the Chinese side, "establishing a correct understanding" is fundamental, and "if there is no correct understanding, then the relevant policies formulated by the US side will also have problems." ”
Wu Xinbo bluntly said that if the United States only unilaterally made a demand, then it would be impossible for the consensus reached at the San Francisco meeting between the two heads of state to be implemented.
Is Blinken's trip expected to "connect the past and the next"?
Public opinion has noted that Blinken's visit was carried out against the backdrop of a stabilizing trend in Sino-US relations. At the beginning of the year, the heads of state of China and the United States exchanged congratulatory letters on the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. On the 2nd of this month, Xi Jinping had a phone call with Biden as requested.
Under the guidance of the diplomacy of the heads of state, bilateral interactions have become more frequent than last year.
From April 4 to 9, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited China again after nine months, emphasizing that she does not seek "decoupling" from China and calling on the two sides to maintain communication.
U.S. State Department Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Conda and White House National Security Council Senior Director for China Affairs Bernarand followed in Beijing to meet with Chinese diplomats.
On the 16th, Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun held a video call with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. In response to the first phone call between the Chinese and US defense ministers in more than a year, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense said today that this is of positive significance for maintaining the overall stability of relations between the two militaries.
After the call, the U.S. side sent a U.S. delegation led by Commander Stephen Koehler of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet to Qingdao, Shandong Province, to attend the 19th Annual Meeting of the Western Pacific Naval Forum. U.S. Ambassador to China Burns noted that Koehler is the highest-ranking U.S. military official to visit China since 2019.
Officials from the economic, trade, finance, climate change, law enforcement, agriculture, and cultural sectors of China and the United States have also maintained interaction. More than 20 institutional consultations established or restarted at the San Francisco meeting continue to operate. On April 16, the U.S.-China Economic Working Group and the Financial Working Group held their fourth meetings in Washington, D.C., and on April 22, the U.S.-China Climate Action Working Group Methane Group held a virtual meeting of its leaders.
Public opinion believes that the recent high-level exchanges between China and the United States have laid a certain foundation for Blinken's visit. Sun Chenghao, an assistant researcher at the Center for Strategic and Security Studies at Tsinghua University, pointed out that maintaining the overall stability of China-US relations during Biden's current term is a common "short-term goal" of both sides. On this basis, Blinken's visit to China is expected to play a role in "connecting the previous and the next", continuing and implementing the spirit of the summit, and promoting continued exchanges and cooperation at the working level.
Will the two-faced nature of the U.S. policy toward China give Blinken points to his visit?
While intending to maintain the momentum of engagement with China, the United States has recently exerted pressure, shown force, and hostile words and deeds against China on issues such as science and technology, the economy, and the Taiwan Strait, and has put bilateral relations to the test.
On the 24th local time, some U.S. media revealed that the U.S. Department of Commerce is reviewing the so-called "risks" brought about by China's use of RISC-V chip technology under the banner of so-called "national security". The report pointed out that RISC-V chip technology is currently being used by some large Chinese technology companies, and has become a new battlefield in the strategic competition between China and the United States in advanced chip technology.
On the same day that the news was exposed, U.S. President Joe Biden officially signed a foreign aid bill worth $95 billion, which includes China-related content such as aid to Taiwan and demanding TikTok to break away from China's parent company. In response, TikTok responded on the same day that it would challenge the legislation in court and said it would not leave the U.S. market.
In addition, the United States also plans to introduce a number of trade measures against China, including launching a Section 301 investigation into China's maritime, logistics and shipbuilding industries, and imposing tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum products on the grounds of so-called "unfair competition".
Recently, U.S. officials have frequently hyped up the so-called "China's overcapacity" issue, saying that Blinken would express so-called "concerns" to China during his visit to China.
In addition to continuing to exert pressure on China in the economic and trade fields, on the 22nd local time, the U.S. State Department released its annual country report on human rights practices, once again attacking and smearing China with lies such as the so-called "genocide" and "forced labor" in Xinjiang, and also arguing about Hong Kong-related and Xinjiang-related issues.
Earlier this month, US presidential state affairs advisor Jake Sullivan also claimed that the United States will continue to provide the Taiwan region with so-called "means of self-defense" to ensure that the so-called "Taiwan incident" will never happen. As soon as the words fell, on the 17th, a P-8A anti-submarine patrol plane of the US military sailed through the Taiwan Strait and publicly hyped it.
In response, Wu Qian, spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, responded on the 25th that the so-called "Taiwan incident" originated from the United States stirring up trouble. If the US really wants to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, it should immediately stop interfering in China's internal affairs, immediately stop arming Taiwan, and immediately stop all official exchanges and military ties between the United States and Taiwan.
"Diplomatic engagement is just a formality, and containment and suppression is the essence of US policy toward China. In Wu Xinbo's view, the recent series of negative actions taken by the US against China just highlight the two-sided nature of the US China policy, and this state of affairs will exist for a long time.
Wu Xinbo said that the US side thinks that the pressure action can increase the bargaining chips of Blinken's visit to China, but this is actually a negative asset and cannot add points to it.
"Due to a lack of sincerity, it is difficult to get a substantive response from China on some issues of concern to the US side. So in this sense, Blinken's trip to China was not easy. Wu Xinbo further pointed out that the "two skins" of the US policy toward China will only lead to twists and turns in Sino-US relations and will not be able to achieve real stability.
Take a look at the news reporters: Song Yi, Shu Keyixuan
Editor: Fang Feifei
Editor-in-charge: Zhao Xin