Femy Francis

On 26 April, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken culminated his three-day visit to China where he met with the top Chinese politburo and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The discussion entailed “in-depth, substantive, and constructive discussions on key priorities in the bilateral relationship and on a range of regional and global issues. The Secretary emphasized that the United States will continue to use diplomacy to make progress in areas of difference and areas of cooperation,” issues the US State Department. This was the second meeting by Blinken under Joe Biden’s administration. The visit yielded no notable progression in Sino-US relations as both expressed their grievances with each other’s actions and policies.

Before the Visit: What did China want from the visit?
Before Blinken landed in Shanghai Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs outlined five goals they expected from the meeting. The following are listed below:

- Establish correct understanding: The ministry stated that it is imperative that both sides have a correct understanding of each other and that they should not halt contact and not fall into conflict.
- Effectively manage differences: While the differences between the two countries will persist, they should not let these differences dictate their relationship expressed by the ministry.
- Promoting mutually beneficial cooperation: The Ministry stated that both countries should work on furthering cooperation in areas of interest to further establish their ties.
- Strengthening Dialogue: It suggested that they would continue to adhere to continued consultation with each other following the seven-point consensus based on mutual respect, peaceful co-existence, maintaining communication, preventing conflict, abiding by the UN charters, and further cooperation in areas of interest and competitive factors.
- Jointly shouldering responsibility: It asserted that the US should work with other UN Security Council countries to fulfill the international responsibilities they have as major countries. By supporting the ceasefire in Gaza and support the UN resolution 2728.

Following are the six major takeaways:
1. China's unfair economic practices
Blinken voiced similar concerns to that of US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen on Chinese overcapacity. He stated that China's unfair trade practices and industrial overcapacity in critical industries like electronic vehicles and solar panels can lead to the markets being dominated by Chinese products and are unfair to other industries. He demanded a level playing field for US firms in China. The overcapacity issue can lead to overall hurting the profitability of the sector by lowering the prices of the products by the market being flooded with surplus goods.

2. China’s role in aiding Russia
Blinken expressed concerns over China’s support of the Russian military and how it is threatening their recently progressing relationship with China. Blinken said: “I reiterated our serious concern about the PRC providing components that are powering Russia's brutal war of aggression against Ukraine.” China internationally has maintained a neutral stance on the Russia-Ukraine war and called for peace. While parallelly affirming an “all-weather partnership” with Russia. Blinken stated that China has been the top supplier of machine tools and microelectronics vital for the war efforts, additionally assisting the establishment of their industrial base for defence by providing dual-use items.

3. Furthering counter-narcotics activities
Blinken also iterated the need to further combat narcotics activities and acknowledged that they have made significant inroads in dealing with Fentanyl exports from China. In the US Fentanyl is the most popular drug responsible for most deaths of Americans from the ages of 18-45. China being a major supplier has taken serious steps to curb its supply. Blinken discussed the same issue and asserted that “more needs to be done.”

4. China’s Red Line
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned the US that the recent improvement of their relations will be jeopardized by the disruption of “Red Lines “and lead to a “downward spiral.” He said: “Should China and the United States keep in the right direction of moving forward with stability or return to a downward spiral.” The US should not step on China’s “Red Lines,” to “minimize the risk of miscalculation and misunderstandings.” The meeting comes against the backdrop of the US planning to sanction more Chinese companies over their aid to Russia and the US Congress passing the legislation to either divest or ban TikTok. Additionally, the US’s continued support for Taiwan and the military aid provided by the US stands in contention with China and therefore stepping the Chinese Red Lines.

5. US suppressing Chinese economy
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed that: “China’s legitimate development rights have been unreasonably suppressed and our core interests are facing challenges.” They called out the targeting of Chinese firms and products curbing the growth of Chinese industries and firms. In recent years the US and West have imposed stringent sanctions on not only Chinese companies' exports but have prohibited the sale of critical technology to China. This suppression violates their right to develop and hits their core interest.

6. Xi: Earth is big enough for both China and the US
Xi when meeting Blinken said: “The world is big enough to accommodate the simultaneous development and prosperity of both China and the United States.” He used a conciliatory tone and expressed that they should achieve mutual success and not aim to harm each other. Both countries should seek common ground and reserve their differences. In line with this statement, he said China would like to see a prosperous US and hope the US can see China in a positive light as well. Chinese President's statements showed that China has no problem with the US prospering and hopes the same for the US, where they do not intentionally curb China’s growth.

References:
“Chinese foreign ministry official on U.S. Secretary of State Blinken's visit to China,” Xinhua, 26 April 2024
“Secretary Blinken’s Visit to the People’s Republic of China,” US Department of State, 26 April 2024
“Better US-China ties but still deep disagreements as Blinken starts visit,” Reuters, 24 April 2024
“China warns US not to step on its 'red lines',” BBC, 27 April 2024
Hemant Adlakha, “Chinese Analysts See Little Gain From Blinken’s Visit,” The Diplomat, 26 April 2024

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