The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Blinken begins key China visit, hours after Senate clears $ 8- bn Taiwan aid
US SECRETARY of State Antony Blinken has begun a critical trip to China armed with a strengthened diplomatic hand following Senate approval of a foreign aid package that will provide billions of dollars in assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan as well as force Tiktok’s Chinabased parent company to sell the social media platform — all areas of contention between Washington and Beijing.
Passage of the bill will add further complications to an already complex relationship that has been strained by disagreements over numerous global and regional disputes.
Blinken will meet with business leaders before heading to
Beijing for talks on Friday with his counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and a likely meeting with President Xi Jinping.
Still, the fact that Blinken is making the trip — shortly after a conversation between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, a similar visit to China by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and a call between the U. S. and Chinese defense chiefs — is a sign the two sides are at least willing to discuss their differences.
Of primary interest to China, the bill sets aside $ 8 billion to counter Chinese threats in Taiwan and the broader IndoPacific and gives China’s Bytedance nine months to sell Tiktok with a possible threemonth extension if a sale is in progress. China has raile d against U. S. assistance to Taiwan, which it regards as a renegade province, and immediately condemned the move as a dangerous provocation. It also strongly opposes efforts to force Tiktok’s sale.
Even before Blinken landed in Shanghai — where he will have meetings on Thursday before traveling to Beijing — China’s Taiwan Affairs Office slammed the assistance to Taipei, saying it “seriously violates” U. S. commitments to China, “sends a wrong signal to the Taiwan independence separatist forces” and pushes the self- governing island republic into a “dangerous situation.”
A senior State Department official said last week that Blinken would “underscore, both in private and public, America’s abiding interest in maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. We think that is vitally important for the region and the world.”
Discussions are also expected to be held on conflicting topics such as China’s disputes over the South China Sea, its trade with Russia amid its war with Ukraine, and the surge of production of fentanyl precursors in China and their export to US.