At the Rome meeting, Wang Yi warned Blinken | on this sensitive issue Kyo Brewery

When Wang Yi and Blinken met, they took a group photo in front of their respective flags. Photo/Website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

On October 31, local time, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with US Secretary of State Blinken in Rome, Italy, and the meeting lasted for one hour.

This is the second face-to-face dialogue between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Blinken since the High-level Sino-US Strategic Dialogue in Anchorage, Alaska, from March 18 to 19 this year. The fierce confrontation of the last dialogue was very impressive.

This time, according to the live video, Wang Yi and Blinken did not touch their elbows when they met this time, but only stood in front of their respective national flags for a group photo. Prior to this, the United States tried to breed trouble on the Taiwan issue, repeatedly made inappropriate remarks on Taiwan, and risked provoking Sino-US bilateral relations. Therefore, the content of this dialogue has attracted the attention of all parties.

There is an off-the-beaten-path behind "unusual frankness"

For the Rome meeting between Wang Yi and Blinken, a US official, who did not want to be named, used the term "unusually frank" to describe the atmosphere of the meeting, and also said that it was "fruitful."

After the meeting, a statement issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry also quoted Foreign Minister Wang Yi himself as saying that Foreign Minister Wang Yi was willing to "establish regular contacts with Blinken and exchange views in a timely and frank manner on how to manage differences between the two sides and properly resolve the problems that arise, so as to enhance understanding, dispel doubts, avoid misjudgment, and explore cooperation."

In the "diplomatic dictionary", "frankness" is often used to describe the principled nature of the two parties to the dialogue, and to clearly clarify their positions and clearly point out the differences in the dialogue. "Frank" and "abnormal" indicate that there are differences of principled positions between the two sides on many major issues.

According to a statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the two sides also exchanged views on important issues such as climate change, energy supply, the Iranian nuclear issue, the situation on the Korean Peninsula, Myanmar, and Afghanistan. However, neither side has publicly stated what consensus has been reached on any of these areas, or what specific prospects have been made for bilateral cooperation, but only expressed its "willingness to maintain dialogue on addressing various global challenges."

During the meeting, Foreign Minister Wang Yi also expressed China's solemn concerns about various issues that harm China's legitimate rights and interests, and demanded that the US side change its course and push China-US relations back to the track of healthy development.

The U.S. State Department statement and official U.S. message to the media said Blinken "highlighted issues where the interests of the two countries intersect and there is a possibility of cooperation, including North Korea, Myanmar, Iran, Afghanistan and the climate crisis." The State Department statement also said Blinken "emphasized the importance of keeping communication channels open and managing U.S.-China competition responsibly."

Meeting Leaves 'Window of Hope' for Managing Differences

As Foreign Minister Wang Yi pointed out at the meeting, the Chinese side believes that in recent years, due to the erroneous China policy pursued by the United States, Sino-US relations have suffered an all-round impact.

In fact, the United States has wantonly interfered in China's internal affairs, and the current Congress alone has introduced more than 300 anti-China bills. The US side has included more than 900 Chinese entities and individuals in various unilateral sanctions lists, which has also seriously undermined normal exchanges between China and the United States.

Not only that, the United States is also piecing together to suppress China's international exchanges on a global scale, and even exerting pressure on many small and medium-sized countries to this end. These practices do not conform to the interests of the two peoples, do not conform to the expectations of the international community, and do not conform to the development trend of the times.

In this regard, the US side's position and attitude have shown no signs of changing course since the Anchorage talks.

But through another high-level direct dialogue, the two sides have reached a consensus of "willing to maintain regular contact" and "willing to maintain communication", which in any case also leaves a window of hope for the two major countries to manage their differences and avoid confrontation and crisis.

Dialogue and communication are the first step in exchanges and cooperation between countries. More high-level interaction will follow, including the G20 in Rome and the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, as well as a video meeting between the heads of state of China and the United States scheduled for the end of the year.

All parties concerned hope that China and the United States can effectively manage their differences through dialogue and truly begin to explore cooperation. However, this requires the sincerity and action of both sides, especially the US side, which has repeatedly harmed China's legitimate rights and interests on key issues.

The Taiwan issue must not be allowed to undermine Sino-US relations

As everyone knows, the Taiwan issue is the most sensitive issue in Sino-US relations. As for a series of recent Taiwan-related remarks by US political leaders, many international media and observers pointed out that "it seems to break the 'strategic ambiguity' of Washington on the Taiwan Strait issue."

These include last week's remarks by US President Joe Biden that he would "exercise military defense against Taiwan" and Blinken's "appeal to the international community to support Taipei's 'meaningful participation' in THE UN agencies and its role in the international arena" on October 26, local time.

As Foreign Minister Wang Yi pointed out, once the Taiwan issue is mishandled, it will cause subversive and overall damage to Sino-US relations. The crux of the current situation in the Taiwan Strait is that the Taiwan authorities have repeatedly tried to break through the "one China" framework, and the US side's connivance and support for the "Taiwan independence" forces cannot be blamed.

To this end, Wang Yi clearly warned the US side to be aware of the serious harm of "Taiwan independence" and that the US side pursues the real "one China" policy, not the fake "one China" policy; demands that the US side fulfill its commitments to the Chinese side instead of betraying its promises; and demands that the US side truly implement the "one China" policy into action, rather than saying one thing and doing one thing.

Obviously, the intention of the US top level in taking risks and provoking the "most sensitive" Taiwan issue again and again recently is, first, to repeatedly test the bottom line of China's patience through constantly "playing with fire" in an attempt to take advantage of this; second, it is an attempt to stimulate and tease the Chinese side and disrupt the pace of China's development; third, it is to please some domestic and foreign forces, factions, and individuals who stubbornly hold a Cold War consciousness, hoping to gain political bets by doing so.

Earlier, when asked by the media what it means to "implement military defense against Taiwan", the Biden team said that "there has been no change in the US policy toward Taiwan", and this time Blinken also claimed in the Rome talks that "the United States will continue to adhere to the one-China policy". This also shows that the US side is well aware of China's solemn stand on the Taiwan issue and its high sensitivity to the Taiwan issue in Sino-US relations.

However, just as Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at the Rome meeting, the important experience accumulated by the two countries in the more than 40 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations is that China and the United States "benefit both sides by combining, and hurting both by fighting." In the two phone calls, the heads of state of China and the United States also reached an important consensus that the two sides should restart dialogue and avoid confrontation.

Therefore, the most urgent task in handling Sino-US relations is that the two sides should earnestly implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state and provide necessary conditions for political preparations for exchanges in the next stage. This meeting in Rome should be an opportunity.

Beijing News special writer | Tao Short Room (Columnist)

Edit | He Rui

Proofreading | Liu Jun