“Competition should not veer into conflict,” urged Anthony Blinken, US Secretary of State, after meeting Chinese president Xi Jinping in Beijing, in the first such high-level talks between Beijing and Washington during Biden’s presidency. 

Blinken’s trip, the first by a US Secretary of State since 2018 and already postponed once amid the Chinese spy balloon saga, was never likely to resolve any of the two superpowers’ most deeply clashing interests. But it was a bid to stop the glacial relations between them from deteriorating further still. Indeed, as Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang declared, he was meeting his American counterpart at a time when the US-China relationship have reached “the lowest point since the establishment of diplomatic relations” in 1979. 

Following talks in the Great Hall of the People with both Qin and Xi, Blinken said he was “clear-eyed” about the numerous issues on which the two countries “vehemently disagree”. Yet, despite these seemingly intractable differences, both sides appear to have shown a willingness – indeed, a desire – to stabilise relations where possible. 

Xi hailed the “progress” made during the “candid and in-depth discussions” and the “agreements on specific issues” (without elaborating much further) while Blinken was at pains to stress that the US is “not seeking to economically contain China” – citing the (still rising) trade between the two nations as evidence of just this. 

During his post-talks press conference, Blinken made use of the buzz phrase “de-risking, not decoupling”, insisting that the latter – ie severing economic ties with Beijing – would be “disastrous” for the US, and global, economy. “China’s broad economic success is also in our interest” he added. 

But there was a caveat to this: at a time when Beijing is – ever so opaquely – building up its nuclear weapons program, it is not in the US interest to provide China with certain, specific technologies “that could later be used against us.” 

Blinken also elaborated on some of the specific reached agreements, aforementioned by Xi. These included enhanced co-operation on tackling the spread of the Fentanyl – now the number one killer of young Americans – as well as improved student exchange programmes between the two countries and, crucially, reassurances from Beijing that it wouldn’t provide Moscow with lethal weapons to use in Ukraine. 

As for the biggest flashpoint of all – Taiwan – this was certainly not included in the category of reached agreements.  “On this issue, there’s no room for compromise or stepping back,” declared, Wang Yi, the country’s top diplomat following his lengthy tete-a-tete with Blinken. Wang reiterated the line that America’s security pact with the self-ruled island, in the face of rising threats from Beijing, was a case of Washington interfering with China’s “internal affairs.”

Though, as Blinken stressed in his press conference, the fact that 50% of commercial container traffic goes through the Taiwan Strait every day, not to mention the island’s near-monopoly on advanced microchip manufacturing, means a crisis in Taiwan “would have dramatic consequences for virtually every country around the world.” 

It seems neither side was willing to concede any ground on the most thorny issue of all, but at least they have shown willingness to engage in high-level communication. 

Indeed, even the fact that Xi met Blinken in person – by no means a guarantee unless it’s a visit from another head of state – sends a clear signal that Beijing hasn’t given up hope of improving relations with the US.

Blinken’s visit is expected to have laid the groundwork for a summit between Xi and his true counterpart – US president Joe Biden – later in the year. 

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