2023-06-20 04:10:54
Chinese Presidents Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden hailed progress in relations between their countries on Monday following a visit to Beijing by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Even if deep disagreements remain.
In a long-awaited sign of appeasement, the Chinese head of state received his guest at the People’s Palace, the monumental building which is used to welcome foreign dignitaries on the edge of Tiananmen Square.
“The two sides have made progress and reached common ground on some specific points,” said Xi Jinping without specifying the latter, describing the progress as “very good thing”, according to public television CCTV.
“We are on the right track,” Joe Biden said during a trip to California, saying Mr. Blinken had “done a great job” in Beijing. Antony Blinken met Xi Jinping on the second and last day of his visit to China. It was the first stay in the Asian country in nearly five years for a head of American diplomacy.
Both sides, however, played down the prospects of any major reconciliation. According to the American Secretary of State, who said he was “lucid”, the more than 11 hours of discussions he conducted in two days were aimed above all at restoring dialogue.
“We have made progress and we are moving forward,” Antony Blinken told the press, before qualifying: “None of these questions will be resolved in a single visit”. Another encouraging sign: Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang has accepted an invitation to visit the United States, on a date yet to be determined.
“Dialogue et confrontation”
But Antony Blinken acknowledged that progress was limited for the time being, in particular on the restoration of communication between the two armies, a priority against the backdrop of persistent bilateral tensions around Taiwan.
“Direct contact and sustained communication at the highest level is the best way to manage differences responsibly and ensure that competition does not escalate into conflict,” Blinken told reporters. “I heard the same thing from my Chinese counterparts. We agree on the need to stabilize our relations.”
Bilateral relations remain tense on many issues: rivalry in technology, trade, the treatment of the Muslim minority of the Uyghurs in China or Chinese claims in the South China Sea. On Monday morning, the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) top diplomat, Wang Yi, told Antony Blinken that the United States must now choose “between dialogue and confrontation, cooperation and conflict”, according to CCTV.
Wang Yi, who has the upper hand in Chinese foreign policy and ranks above Foreign Minister Qin Gang, also forcefully reaffirmed Beijing’s position on Taiwan. “On this issue, China will not make any compromises or concessions,” he told Antony Blinken.
hard line
China considers the island to be one of its provinces, which it has yet to successfully reunite with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. It has not ruled out win it back by force if necessary.
Beijing says it is opposed to what it perceives as a rapprochement in recent years between Washington and the Taiwanese authorities, from a pro-independence party. China has thus launched during the past year large-scale military exercises around Taiwan after official meetings between senior American officials and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.
Antony Blinken expressed concern about Chinese “provocations” in the Taiwan Strait. But he stressed that his country remained opposed to a declaration of independence by Taipei. The US secretary of state said he also raised concerns about the treatment of Uyghurs and Tibetans, as well as the situation in Hong Kong, where Beijing has severely restricted freedom of expression.
Joe Biden maintains the hard line towards Beijing established by his predecessor Donald Trump. The United States has notably banned the export of advanced semiconductors to China. However, Washington does not seek to “stifle” Chinese economic development, Mr. Blinken assured Monday.
“But at the same time”, it is “not in our interest to provide China with technologies that could be used against us”, he stressed. Antony Blinken’s visit was originally scheduled for February but was postponed after a Chinese balloon incursion into US airspace.
This article has been published automatically. Sources: ats / afp
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