US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is expected in China today for his second visit in less than a year, with a mission to increase pressure on Beijing over issues such as its support for Russia, while seeking greater stability.
Blinken’s program in Beijing
The head of American diplomacy, Anthony Blinken, will hold talks with Chinese leaders in Beijing the day after tomorrow, Friday, during which he will call for restraint as Taiwan prepares to take office as a new president.
He is also expected to outline US concerns about China’s trade practices, which Washington says are anti-competitive, an issue central to President Joe Biden in this election year. Anthony Blinken is also in China to ease tensions between the world’s two largest economies. These have clearly relaxed since Blinken’s visit in June.
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That trip is to be followed by a meeting between Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in November in San Francisco, which is expected to lead to renewed contacts between their armed forces and cooperation in the fight against fentanyl production. , responsible for many deaths among drug addicts in the United States.
Blinken will begin his visit today in Shanghai, where he will meet with students and business leaders. This station, which is to highlight the warm ties between the Americans and the Chinese, is the first in Shanghai by a US Secretary of State since Hillary Clinton in 2010.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also visited the industrial city of Guangzhou (Canton) earlier this month before heading to Beijing. Sino-US relations are at a “different stage than where we were a year ago, when bilateral relations were at a historic low,” a senior US official said ahead of Anthony Blinken’s visit.
“We also believe, and have clearly demonstrated, that responsible competition management does not mean that we should not take steps to protect the national interests of the United States,” he added.
Yun Sun, a researcher at the Stimson Center in Washington, observes that Chinese leaders are on hold ahead of the US election in November.
“The Chinese understand that the Biden administration is only slightly likely to bring good news on the trade level because it doesn’t live up to the campaign platform,” he said.
For Chinese leaders, this year “the priority is to maintain the stability of relations.” “Until there is clarity about the next government, I don’t think they see any better strategy,” he added.
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