During his meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that the US and China had made “progress” towards stabilizing their deepening bilateral relationship.
Xi’s remarks were interpreted as the strongest signal so far of a thaw in Beijing and Washington’s increasingly acrimonious relations.
At the Great Hall of the People, in a long-delayed meeting with Blinken, the first US Secretary of State to visit Beijing since 2018, Xi said whether China and the US can get along “bears on the future and destiny of humanity.”
Emphasizing that the two countries should properly handle China-US relations with a sense of responsibility for history, for the people and for the world, Xi added that the two sides “have made progress and reached an agreement on some specific issues” in extensive talks between top Chinese officials and Blinken.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to California on Monday, US President Joe Biden also stated that Blinken did a “hell of a job” in China, adding that “we are on the right trail.”
Blinken told journalists after the meeting that he recognized that both countries have “an obligation and responsibility to manage this relationship.”
“It was clear coming in that the relationship was at a point of instability and both sides recognized the need to work to stabilize it,” Blinken said, adding that this meant “establishing better lines of communication to make sure that the competition does not veer into conflict.”
On the other hand, Blinken emphasized during the meeting that the US is not seeking a new Cold War and not trying to change China’s system. It was also noteworthy that Blinken stated that Washington does not support Taiwan’s independence.
Blinken also told Xi that the US side looks forward to building high-level relations with the Chinese side, maintaining open lines of communication, managing differences responsibly, and continuing dialogue, exchange and cooperation.
The sides described the talks as “long, sincere, in-depth and constructive”. From now on, the two countries are expected to increase high-level interactions, including visits by ministerial-level officials.
Many question marks
Commenting on Blinken’s visit, Dr. Hüseyin Korkmaz, an expert on international security studies, said that the meetings raised many questions.
Dr. Korkmaz emphasized that although the statements emphasized “hours of cordial talks”, no concrete results came out of these meetings and this was reflected in the statements.
“It seems that the main goal of the US in relations with China is to continue the ‘strategic rivalry without veering into conflict’,” Korkmaz said, adding that with Blinken’s visit, the US has shown an attitude in favor of the continuation of the status quo in both bilateral relations and the Taiwan issue.
Noting that Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang’s affirmation that relations were at a “low point” and his subsequent statement that the Taiwan issue was a “big risk” appeared to be a serious warning, Korkmaz recalled the words of senior Chinese diplomat Wang, “Stop exaggerating the China threat theory”, and stated that China adopted a tough discourse in this context.
A temporary hiatus
According to Korkmaz, “the US-China rivalry cannot long endure a temporary respite, fortified by a cold peace”.
“China believes that the US is trying to stifle its development with its ‘encirclement’ strategy, while the US sees China as a revisionist-leaning country with aggressive military growth. The US, on the other hand, perceives China as a revisionist power with an aggressive military growth and, more importantly, as a ‘threat’ for the last 5 years.”
Pointing out that it is difficult for Blinken’s visit to contribute to a thaw in relations, Dr. Hüseyin Korkmaz said that both sides would prefer a “protracted rivalry” by trying to maintain their positions from now on.
According to Korkmaz, rather than a cold peace, which the US expects, this situation may turn into a “hybrid cold war” in which traditional and non-traditional methods are used together.
