BEIJING: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Beijing on Sunday on the highest-level tour by a US top official in nearly five years, with the rival powers looking to lower the temperature after rising tensions. AFP reported that Blinken would hold meetings today and tomorrow in China on the first visit by a top US envoy in nearly five years. The US Secretary of State is scheduled to spend two days in Beijing on a trip rescheduled from February. The US top diplomat abruptly postponed the visit after the US said it detected a Chinese balloon over US land, leading to uncompromising calls for a reply by hard-liners in the US. In a sign of the brittleness of the effort, the US Secretary of State had been due to visit Beijing four months ago, the results of a cordial summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden in Bali in November.
AFP reported that neither side expects breakthroughs during the US top diplomat’s visit, with Beijing and Washington at odds on various matters from technology to trade to regional security. But the two sides have increasingly voiced an interest in seeking stability and see a narrow window before polls next year in the US and Taiwan. Blinken also spoke by telephone with his counterparts from South Korea and Japan during his 20-hour trans-Pacific journey.
Blinken Lands in Beijing
Speaking in Washington before his departure, Blinken said his trip to Beijing aims to open up better communications “by avoiding miscalculations and removing misperceptions.” The US top diplomat said, “Intense competition needs sustained diplomacy to guarantee that competition does not turn into conflict or confrontation,”. “That is what the international community expects of both Washington and Beijing,” he added.
.@SecBlinken is in the People’s Republic of China. Our relationship with the PRC is one of our most complex and consequential. It is important that we maintain communication between our two countries. https://t.co/A6QLEA42qi pic.twitter.com/JeoUEdA83T
— Matthew Miller (@StateDeptSpox) June 18, 2023
The first target of the visit to Beijing, the US Secretary of State said in a news conference on Friday, is “to establish and open communications so that the two sides responsibly manage our relations.” Secondly, Blinken said, the aim was to set the record clear on Washington interests and values, and thirdly to explore sectors of cooperation like economic stability, climate change, health and fighting drug trafficking affecting the globe.
Blinken said he would also raise the matter of American nationals detained by China. Beijing has detained several US nationals on various charges, including Kai Li, a businessman accused of spying in 2016, and David Lin, a US cleric held since 2006.