Urgent to resume high-level contacts with China? Foreign media: US Secretary of State plans to visit China and US China relations within the month | Planned visit to China within the month | US Secretary of State | Foreign media

According to foreign media on the 6th, citing insiders, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken plans to visit China in the coming weeks for talks with high-level Chinese officials. Analysis suggests that despite the tense relationship between China and the United States, the United States still hopes to resume high-level contact with China. However, although both sides have recently reached an optimistic tone of maintaining communication, there is still a risk of whether China US relations can stop falling and stabilize in the future.

Plan to visit China within the month?

According to media reports such as Bloomberg, CBS and CNN, several insiders said that Antony Blinken will visit China this month for talks with senior Chinese officials. However, details such as the exact time of Antony Blinken's visit to China have not yet been finalized.

Affected by the "balloon incident" at the beginning of this year, Antony Blinken had postponed his trip to China originally scheduled for February.

With regard to the upcoming visit of Antony Blinken to China by the foreign media, Vice Spokesperson of the US State Department, Vedant Patel, responded on the 6th that there was still no announcement about the Secretary of State's itinerary. But he said that, as he said before, Antony Blinken would reschedule his visit to China "if conditions permit". He also stated that it is irreplaceable to continue discussions between the two sides through face-to-face talks or contact, whether in Washington or Beijing.

Just before the news of Antony Blinken's planned visit to China came to light, the Assistant Secretary of State for Asia Pacific Affairs of the United States State Department Kangda and the Senior Director of China Affairs of the National Security Council of the White House Bessaran visited China and met with Chinese diplomats.

Public opinion believes that Kangda and others may pave the way for more high-level American officials, including Antony Blinken, to visit China. When asked whether Antony Blinken will visit China soon, Kangda said: "We will wait and see."

Reuters reported that after talks between Chinese and American diplomats, both sides reached an optimistic tone.

According to the news released by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on June 5th, Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu and Director General of the US Department of Foreign Affairs Yang Tao held meetings and talks with US officials such as Kanda. The two sides had frank, constructive, and effective communication on promoting the improvement of China US relations and properly managing differences in accordance with the consensus reached at the Bali meeting between the two heads of state in November last year. The Chinese side has clarified its solemn position on major principled issues such as Taiwan. Both parties agree to continue communication.

The US State Department also stated that the two sides had candid and productive discussions, which are part of their ongoing efforts to maintain smooth communication channels based on recent high-level diplomacy.

Frequent high-level interaction

Recently, the frequency of high-level contacts between China and the United States has increased.

In early May, Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Working Committee, held a long conversation with US President's Assistant for National Security Affairs, Sullivan, in Vienna.

In late May, Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao went to the United States to attend the Ministerial Meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), during which he held talks with US Minister of Commerce Raymond and Trade Representative Dai Qi.

According to multiple foreign media reports, CIA Director Burns secretly visited China last month to have in-depth discussions with Chinese officials on the relationship between the two countries. According to officials, Burns emphasized the importance of maintaining smooth communication in the intelligence community during his meeting with Chinese officials.

The United States also frequently sends signals of "thawing" and "contact".

On May 21st, after attending the G7 summit in Japan, US President Biden stated that the chill in US China relations "will soon thaw.". He also mentioned several times that he plans to meet with Chinese leaders.

Regarding this, some analysts suggest that the United States will hold an informal meeting of APEC leaders in San Francisco in November this year, and the US may hope to take this opportunity to facilitate the China US dollar summit.

On the other hand, the friction between China and the United States in the field of defense is intensifying tensions.

At the just concluded Shangri La Dialogue in Singapore, the defense ministers of China and the United States did not hold a meeting, only shook hands and had a conversation.

Recently, a US military RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft deliberately entered our training area in the South China Sea to carry out reconnaissance interference, and China subsequently dispatched military aircraft to track and monitor. As a result, the US reversed the truth and claimed that China's interception behavior was "aggressive", which could lead to accidents.

Regarding this, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin emphasized on the 6th that it was US military aircraft that ran from afar to China's doorstep to provoke and insist on conducting close reconnaissance and showing off their strength near China's territorial waters and airspace. This is not to uphold "freedom of navigation", but to promote "navigation hegemony", which is a blatant military provocation. This kind of hegemonic behavior is the root cause of sea and air security risks.

"There is a fundamental contradiction in the US approach"

The public opinion believes that recent frequent high-level contacts between China and the United States have sent signals of interest in stabilizing relations between the two countries. But as the relationship between the two sides becomes more complex, whether it can stop falling and stabilize in the future remains a risk.

CNN stated that after a year of extreme turbulence and tension in Sino US relations, the two countries are working hard to rebuild normal relations. Some US officials emphasize the need to establish normal communication channels to prevent "competitive" relationships from evolving into conflicts.

The US Consumer News and Business Channel pointed out that Antony Blinken's seeking to visit China may also be to ease the security concerns of South Korea, Japan and other Indo Pacific allies.

However, some analysts suggest that the relationship between China and the United States has entered a more complex stage, as the two countries are being disrupted by differences in security, economy, and politics. Although China is willing to promote the improvement of Sino US relations, it will also adhere to its position on major principled issues such as Taiwan.

On the 6th, the website of Foreign Policy magazine in the United States analyzed that there is a fundamental contradiction in Washington's approach to China related issues. US leaders and officials like to talk about their unwillingness to "contain" China, but US security and military power are clearly suppressing China, and US policy towards China is more inclined towards this than ever before. Therefore, it is not surprising that Beijing views the US statement as "doing one thing at a time.".

The article states that if the US wants to convince China that they are taking the China US dialogue seriously, they may need to be more honest in explaining how the two major powers view each other.