Better US-China ties but still deep disagreements as Blinken starts
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[April 24, 2024]
By Simon Lewis and Antoni Slodkowski
SHANGHAI (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in
Shanghai on Wednesday with U.S.-China ties on a steadier footing, but
with a daunting array of unresolved issues threatening the stability of
relations between the global rivals.
Blinken will meet with business leaders before heading to Beijing for
talks on Friday with his counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and a
likely meeting with President Xi Jinping.
Blinken's visit is the latest high-level contact between the two nations
that, along with working groups on issues from global trade to military
communication, have tempered the public acrimony that drove relations to
historic lows early last year.
But Washington and Beijng have made little headway on curbing China's
supply of chemicals used to make fentanyl, Taiwan remains a flashpoint,
and strains are intensifying over China's backing of Russia in its war
in Ukraine.
While significant progress is unlikely during the visit, both countries
want "open lines of communication to avoid awkward scenarios," said
Alfred Wu, associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public
Policy in Singapore.
Blinken will press China to stop its firms from retooling and
resupplying Russia's defense industrial base. Moscow invaded Ukraine in
February 2022, just days after agreeing a "no limits" partnership with
Beijing, and while China has steered clear of providing arms, U.S.
officials warn Chinese companies are sending dual-use technology that
helps Russia's war effort.
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Without providing details, a senior State Department official briefing
reporters on Friday said Washington was prepared to "take steps" against
Chinese firms it believes are damaging U.S. and European security.
The United States has preliminarily discussed putting sanctions on
Chinese banks over the country's support for Russia, but officials told
Reuters they do not yet have a plan to do so.
Washington has so far stopped short of sanctioning major Chinese banks –
long deemed by analysts as a "nuclear" option – because of the effects
it could have across the global economy and on U.S.-China relations.
A Chinese foreign ministry official quoted by state news agency Xinhua
on Tuesday said relations "have shown a trend of stopping decline and
stabilizing," since Biden and Xi met in San Francisco in November.
But the official criticized what they called Washington's "stubborn
strategy of containing China, and its erroneous words and deeds of
interfering in China's internal affairs, tarnishing China's image and
undermining China's interests."
CALL FOR 'RESTRAINT' OVER TAIWAN
The visit also comes after the U.S. Congress moved ahead this weekend
with a bill that includes new funding for Taiwan and less than a month
before the democratically governed island inaugurates a new president,
Lai Ching-te, who, like his predecessor, rejects China's claim to the
island.
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![](../images/042424PIX/news_m23.jpg)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is greeted by at the Kong
Fuan, Director General of the Shanghai Foreign Affairs Office, U.S.
Ambassador to the People's Republic of China R. Nicholas Burns and
U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai Scott Walker, upon his arrival in
Shanghai, China, April 24, 2024. Mark Schiefelbein/Pool via REUTERS
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The senior State Department official said parties should "avoid
taking provocative actions that may raise tensions, and demonstrate
restraint" ahead of the inauguration. "That will be our message
going forward," the official added.
An effort to force China's ByteDance to sell the social media app
TikTok or face a ban in the U.S. is also gaining steam in Congress,
a sign of the growing appetite in Washington to confront Beijing on
economic issues.
Blinken is also expected to raise human rights, including China's
treatment of Muslims in its western Xinjiang region.
Other U.S. officials have met or called their Chinese counterparts
recently as part of the broader U.S. effort to keep lines of
communication open.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was in Beijing and the southern
factory hub of Guangzhou earlier this month, and last week Defense
Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Chinese counterpart for the
first time in 18 months.
Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan has also held
regular talks with Wang, aiming as the administration says, to
responsibly manage competition between the two powers.
Despite the tensions there have been attempts to find common ground
on issues such as the Middle East conflict.
After an alleged Israeli strike on an Iranian consular facility in
Damascus earlier this month, Blinken spoke with Wang, as well as
with representatives of other countries with ties to Iran, "to make
clear that escalation is not in anyone's interest, and that
countries should urge Iran not to escalate," a State Department
spokesperson said on April 11.
Wang Huiyao, founder and president of the Beijing-based think tank
Center for China and Globalization, told Reuters that contact showed
the potential of the two countries working together.
"They sell all their oil to China," Wang said of Iran, "so when
China says, 'OK, you just stop,' then they have to think about it."
(Reporting by Simon Lewis and Antoni Slodkowski; Additional
reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Michael Martina; Editing Don
Durfee, Daniel Wallis and Ros Russell)
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