During his meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that the US and China had made \u201cprogress\u201d towards stabilizing their deepening bilateral relationship.<\/p>\n
Xi\u2019s remarks were interpreted as the strongest signal so far of a thaw in Beijing and Washington\u2019s increasingly acrimonious relations.<\/p>\n
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 \u201cbears on the future and destiny of humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n
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 \u201chave made progress and reached an agreement on some specific issues\u201d in extensive talks between top Chinese officials and Blinken.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters during a visit to California on Monday, US President Joe Biden also stated that Blinken did a \u201chell of a job\u201d in China, adding that \u201cwe are on the right trail.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blinken told journalists after the meeting that he recognized that both countries have \u201can obligation and responsibility to manage this relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was clear coming in that the relationship was at a point of instability and both sides recognized the need to work to stabilize it,\u201d Blinken said, adding that this meant \u201cestablishing better lines of communication to make sure that the competition does not veer into conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2019s system. It was also noteworthy that Blinken stated that Washington does not support Taiwan\u2019s independence.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The sides described the talks as \u201clong, sincere, in-depth and constructive\u201d. From now on, the two countries are expected to increase high-level interactions, including visits by ministerial-level officials.<\/p>\n
Many question marks<\/strong><\/p>\n Commenting on Blinken\u2019s visit, Dr. H\u00fcseyin Korkmaz, an expert on international security studies, said that the meetings raised many questions.<\/strong><\/p>\n Dr. Korkmaz emphasized that although the statements emphasized \u201chours of cordial talks\u201d, no concrete results came out of these meetings and this was reflected in the statements.<\/p>\n \u201cIt seems that the main goal of the US in relations with China is to continue the \u2018strategic rivalry without veering into conflict\u2019,\u201d Korkmaz said, adding that with Blinken\u2019s visit, the US has shown an attitude in favor of the continuation of the status quo in both bilateral relations and the Taiwan issue.<\/p>\n Noting that Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang\u2019s affirmation that relations were at a \u201clow point\u201d and his subsequent statement that the Taiwan issue was a \u201cbig risk\u201d appeared to be a serious warning, Korkmaz recalled the words of senior Chinese diplomat Wang, \u201cStop exaggerating the China threat theory\u201d, and stated that China adopted a tough discourse in this context.<\/p>\n A temporary hiatus<\/strong><\/p>\n According to Korkmaz, \u201cthe US-China rivalry cannot long endure a temporary respite, fortified by a cold peace\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cChina believes that the US is trying to stifle its development with its \u2018encirclement\u2019 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 \u2018threat\u2019 for the last 5 years.\u201d<\/p>\n Pointing out that it is difficult for Blinken\u2019s visit to contribute to a thaw in relations, Dr. H\u00fcseyin Korkmaz said that both sides would prefer a \u201cprotracted rivalry\u201d by trying to maintain their positions from now on.<\/p>\n According to Korkmaz, rather than a cold peace, which the US expects, this situation may turn into a \u201chybrid cold war\u201d in which traditional and non-traditional methods are used together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" During his meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that the US and China had made \u201cprogress\u201d towards stabilizing their deepening bilateral relationship. Xi\u2019s remarks were interpreted as the strongest signal so far of a thaw in Beijing and Washington\u2019s increasingly acrimonious relations. At the Great Hall […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2766,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[175],"tags":[1422,529,1425,1423,1424,1325,781,786],"class_list":["post-2765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diplomacy","tag-blinkens-visit","tag-china","tag-hybrid-cold-war","tag-new-cold-war","tag-qin-gang","tag-us-china-competition","tag-us-china-relations","tag-xi-jinping"],"yoast_head":"\n