U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves as he prepares to depart from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport on his way to Beijing on April 25, 2024.
Mark Schiefelbein | AFP | Getty Images
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday, amid tensions between the two countries, both rivals for technological supremacy and disagreements over the Middle East conflict and the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Speaking ahead of a private meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Blinken said there was no substitute for “face-to-face diplomacy” and stressed the need for the United States and China to avoid “miscalculations.”
He told reporters that both sides needed to be “as clear as possible about the areas of disagreement, at least to avoid misunderstandings and miscalculations.”
In his remarks, Mr. Wang told Mr. Blinken that U.S.-China relations were “beginning to stabilize” with increased dialogue and cooperation.
“This has been welcomed by the peoples of both countries and the international community,” he said, but warned that “negative factors” are increasing and accumulating, causing “all kinds of turmoil.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) shakes hands with China's Central Foreign Affairs Commission Secretary-General Wang Yi at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, June 19, 2023. (Photo by Leah MILLIS/POOL/AFP)Leah MILLIS/ Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Leah Millis | AFP | Getty Images
“China's legitimate development rights are being unjustly suppressed, and our country's core interests are facing difficulties,'' he said, urging the United States to “not step on China's red line that should not be crossed.'' I told him.
President Joe Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in San Francisco last year on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting.
During a phone call with Xi in early April, their first since July 2022, Biden raised a number of U.S. concerns, according to a White House reading of the call.
Tensions have simmered for years, from trade wars to the fallout over an alleged Chinese reconnaissance balloon over the United States. Most recently, the United States accused China of supporting Russian military activities in Ukraine.
Ahead of Blinken's visit, a senior State Department official said the top U.S. diplomat would warn Beijing against supporting Russia's efforts to rebuild its defense infrastructure, which could undermine European security.
Blinken met with Shanghai Communist Party Secretary Chen Jining on Thursday and “expressed concerns about trade policy and non-market economic practices,” the U.S. State Department said.
Spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement that the United States seeks “healthy economic competition” with China and a level playing field for American workers and companies doing business here.
Blinken's second visit to China follows a high-stakes diplomatic mission to ease tensions between the United States and China last June.
He said Friday it was important to show that “we are managing our most important relationships responsibly.”
“I hope that we can make some progress on the issues that the presidents of both countries have agreed to cooperate on, but I also hope that we can clarify our differences and intentions and clarify each other's positions.”
