‘CONSTRUCTIVE’ TALKS HELD WITH SENIOR U.S. ENVOYS
Beijing says the two sides agreed to continue engaging, but that it protested over ‘wrong words and deeds’ in South China Sea dispute
Senior Chinese and American diplomats held “frank, in-depth and constructive” talks yesterday aimed at boosting exchanges and managing their differences, according to the foreign ministry in Beijing.
Daniel Kritenbrink, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, and Sarah Beran, the National Security Council’s senior director for mainland China and Taiwan affairs, met foreign vice-minister Ma Zhaoxu as part of a three-day visit that ends today.
Both sides agreed to continue engaging in the hope of stabilising and developing relations, according to the ministry. The talks also covered issues such as the Middle East, Ukraine and the Korean peninsula.
Beijing also “stated its solemn position” on “a series of wrong words and deeds” concerning the disputed South China Sea and urged the US not to engage in bloc confrontation or destroy the peace and stability of the AsiaPacific region, the statement said.
“China has clarified its position on Taiwan, trade, science and technology and people-to-people exchanges and demanded that the US stop interfering in China’s internal affairs, obstructing China’s development, imposing unreasonable sanctions on Chinese enterprises, and suppressing China’s trade, science and technology,” it added.
On Saturday, the US State Department said the two US diplomats would meet Chinese officials as part of efforts to maintain “open lines of communication and to responsibly manage competition”.
The visit comes ahead of an expected trip to China by Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the coming weeks and follows a phone discussion between the US and Chinese presidents this month, as Beijing and Washington seek to stabilise ties.
Zhu Feng, executive dean of Nanjing University’s School of International Studies, said the latest talks could “help China and the US to coordinate and communicate, manage the conflict over the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, and control the potentially explosive deterioration of relations between the two countries”.
During a summit in Washington last Thursday, US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr pledged to strengthen defence cooperation in the South China Sea and raised concerns on Taiwan, in a clear move to counter Beijing.
Tensions have been rising over long-running territorial disputes between Beijing and Manila in the South China Sea, with several runins between Chinese and Philippine vessels in recent months.
Last week, as the US, Japan, the Philippines and Australia held their first full-scale joint drills in the region, the People’s Liberation Army responded with its own South China Sea naval and air drills the same day.
Zhu said communication between Washington and Beijing was needed to avoid miscalculation over the disputed waters.
Kritenbrink and Beran’s visit also comes about a month before William Lai Ching-te is inaugurated as the new leader of Taiwan. Beijing has denounced Lai, from the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, as an “obstinate separatist”.
Zhu said Iran’s drone and missile attack on Israel on Saturday could also be discussed during this week’s talks, since Washington had been pressing Beijing to use its influence with Tehran – a key trade partner – to try to prevent an escalation of the situation.
“As the situation in the Middle East escalates, the US may need to shift its attention to the region,” Zhu said. “So Washington may seek to cool off on the situation in the South China Sea for now.”
Blinken spoke with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi by phone on Thursday, as concerns grew before the attack, urging him to try to dissuade Iran from escalating the situation. Wang also called on Washington to play a constructive role in the Middle East. Tehran had vowed to retaliate after a deadly Israeli strike on the Iranian embassy in Syria on April 1.
Josef Gregory Mahoney, a professor of politics and international relations at East China Normal University, said such visits by American officials were in line with the Biden administration’s policy of “establishing guardrails to prevent dangerous escalations”.
“It might be fair to say that this is not about guardrails for stabilising or improving relations, but about ensuring the US can advance its containment policies without sparking unwanted conflict before they’re fully deployed,” Mahoney added.
Washington may seek to cool off on the situation in the South China Sea for now ZHU FENG, NANJING UNIVERSITY