Antony Blinken in Beijing for high-stakes visit; holds extensive talks with Chinese FM

On a mission to cool soaring bilateral tensions, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday held extensive talks with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang on a range of issues, including the Taiwan issue and the Ukraine war.

Blinken arrived here this morning and held an extended round of talks with Qin, besides attending a state dinner.

Blinken's two-day visit to Beijing comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Washington and his meeting with US President Joe Biden on June 22.

The talks are expected to include deepening defence cooperation and firming up the Quad alliance of the US, India, Australia and Japan, which China alleges is aimed at containing it.

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Ahead of Blinken’s visit to Beijing, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the US expects a "transformational moment" in Indian ties during Modi’s visit to Washington and played down the US Secretary of State's visit to Beijing.

"Secretary Blinken's trip to China will be a significant event, but it’s likely not even the most significant event of next week when it comes to US foreign policy," Sullivan told reporters in Tokyo on June 16.

Blinken’s visit was largely seen as an attempt to keep the communication channels open between Washington and Beijing so that bilateral relations can be ‘responsibly managed’.

Analysts say the visit signals a desire by both sides to restore engagement but cast doubt on the prospects of a breakthrough, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

Both sides are yet to comment on the talks.

Also Read | Respect our core concerns: China foreign minister to Antony Blinken

Before leaving for Beijing on Saturday, Blinken said one of his goals was to set up “open and empowered communications” with Chinese officials.

He said he would also speak “directly and candidly about (the US') very real concerns on a range of issues”.

“Intense competition requires sustained diplomacy to ensure that competition does not veer into confrontation or conflict,” he said.

Blinken is the most senior official from the Biden administration to have travelled to Beijing.

Ahead of his visit, Blinken had telephone talks with Qin on Wednesday during which they shared their concerns over each other's policies.

His planned visit in February was cancelled after the US shot a Chinese spy balloon flying over its airspace.

Qin told Blinken that the US should respect China's position on the Taiwan question, stop interfering in China's internal affairs and stop undermining China's sovereignty, security and development interests in the name of competition.

China claims the self-ruled island of Taiwan as part of the Chinese mainland. Qin expounded on China's solemn positions on the Taiwan question and other core concerns, an official statement here said.

Since the beginning of this year, Qin said, China-US relations have encountered new difficulties and challenges, for which it is crystal clear who is responsible.

“Blinken is expected to establish a road map and timetable with the Chinese side on senior bilateral exchanges during the trip,” Shanghai-based news site The Paper quoted as saying Wu Xinbo, head of US studies at Fudan University.

Qin Feng, an academic committee member of Peking University’s Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding, said Blinken’s visit was part of the preparation for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to the United States in November, where he is expected to meet US President Biden on the sidelines of the APEC summit.

“In a way, the materialisation of Blinken’s Beijing trip is a success by itself. It marks progress in the preparation for the two nations' leaders’ summit, which was delayed by the balloon incident. There is lots of catching up to do at the working level now,” Qin Feng said.

On June 16, Chinese President Xi met Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates.

“I believe that the foundation of Sino-U.S. relations lies in the people. Under the current world situation, we can carry out various activities that benefit our two countries, the people of our countries, and the entire human race," he said after his meeting with Gates.

Biden told White House reporters Saturday he was hoping that over the next several months, he will meet with Xi again and talk about legitimate differences the two countries have and how to get along.

Chances for such a meeting may come at a Group of 20 leaders' gathering in September in New Delhi and at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November in San Francisco that the United States is hosting.