China’s probable answers to 4 questions Blinken may raise during his visit
Hi,
As you know, my interest lies not only in ecological civilization, but also in connectivity politics, so I closely follow the developments in China-US relations, which is very important to global ecological effort and a good perspective to observe connectivity power.
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to China. He will be in Shanghai and Beijing for a three-day visit.
His trip followed a recent phone call between Biden and Xi in which they pledged to keep high-level contacts open. Since that call, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has visited China and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has spoken by phone with his Chinese counterpart. Meetings at lower levels also have taken place.
What issues will Blinken talk to the Chinese side during his trip? According to announcement of the State Department, he will meet with senior Chinese officials to discuss a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues, including the crisis in the Middle East, Russia’s war against Ukraine, cross-Strait issues, and the South China Sea. The Secretary will also discuss ongoing work to fulfill the commitments made by Presidents Biden and Xi at the Woodside Summit in November on resuming counternarcotics cooperation, military-to-military communication, artificial intelligence, and strengthening people-to-people ties, and will reiterate the importance of US and China responsibly managing competition, even in areas where our two countries disagree.
So it seems the key issues are the four: Middle East, Ukraine, Taiwan, and the South China Sea. Let us check what kind of reply he is likely to get from the Chinese side.
-- Regarding to the Middle East issue:
On April 19, the latest statement of Chinese Foreign Ministry,Spokesman Lin Jian said that China opposes any actions that could further escalate tensions in the region. China supports Palestine becoming a full member state of the UN Security Council and opposes the US veto on relevant proposals. China advocates for a return to the track of the "two-state solution" and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state as soon as possible.
-- Ukraine
As a friend to both Russia and Ukraine, China advocates for an early ceasefire and political resolution to the crisis. China supports convening of an international conference that is recognized by both Russia and Ukraine, with equal participation from all parties and fair discussions on all peace proposals.
On March 22, Chinese Special Representative on Eurasian Affairs Li Hui held a briefing, introducing the second round of shuttle diplomacy on the Ukraine crisis to diplomatic envoys stationed in China and representatives from domestic and foreign media. He said China is willing to continue playing its unique role to contribute Chinese wisdom and strength to promote the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.
-- Taiwan
China has made it clear again and again that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. China opposes any form of official interaction between the US and Taiwan authorities and rejects US interference in Taiwan affairs in whatever form or under whatever pretext.
-- South China Sea:
On April 22, in the latest statement of Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Wenbin, he said that the overall situation in the South China Sea remains peaceful and stable due to the joint efforts of China and ASEAN countries. There is fundamentally no issue concerning freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
According to previous FM spokespersons’ remarks, recent tensions in the maritime disputes between China and the Philippines were due to the Philippines' violation of its own commitments by frequently provoking incidents at sea, infringing upon China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests. China opposes US manipulation of group politics and organizing exclusive "small circle" in the region.
As November elections is the top issue to any US politicians. Blinken may use this chance of interaction with Beijing to show that the Biden administration is managing well the relations with China while containing China to make it “following rule-based international order.”
As China always wants to keep the door of engagement with the US open, Blinken’s visit is no surprise to the bilateral relations. It may be a political show again before the November elections, without surprising tangible result. ###