Blinken meets Xi as China, US spar over thorny issues
Blinken said he raised concerns with prez about China’s support for Russia and its invasion of Ukraine, as well as other issues including Taiwan and the South China Sea
BEIJING: US secretary of state Antony Blinken met on Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping and senior Chinese officials, stressing the importance of “responsibly managing” the differences between the United States and China as the two sides butted heads over a number of contentious bilateral, regional and global issues.
Talks between the two sides have increased in recent months, even as differences have grown. Blinken said he raised concerns with Xi about China’s support for Russia and its invasion of Ukraine, as well as other issues including Taiwan and the South China Sea, human rights and the production and export of synthetic opioid precursors.
Blinken sounded a positive note on recent progress made in bilateral cooperation, including in military communications, counter-narcotics and artificial intelligence, on which the two sides agreed to start a dialogue on how to reduce risks from the rapidly emerging technology.
Notably, Blinken said he raised ongoing concerns about Beijing’s supply of materials, including machine tools and micro electronics, to Moscow that President Vladimir Putin is using to boost Russia’s defences and its war on Ukraine.
“Russia would struggle to sustain its assault on Ukraine without China’s support,” Blinken told reporters after his meeting with Xi. “Fuelling Russia’s defence industrial base not only threatens Ukrainian security, it threatens European security,” he added. “As we’ve told China for some time, ensuring transatlantic security is a core US interest. In our discussions today. I made clear that if China does not address this problem, we will.”
Blinken said he urged China to use its influence “to discourage Iran and its proxies from expanding the conflict in the Middle East ” and convince North Korea “to end its dangerous behaviour and engage in dialogue”. Blinken also discussed with Xi China’s maritime manoeuvres in the disputed South China Sea, and reiterated “ironclad” American support for the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia.
Xi stressed that China and the US must seek common ground “rather than engage in vicious competition”.
China’s red line
Earlier in the day, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi urged Blinken to address rising disagreements or risk a “downward spiral” between the two powers after months of efforts to ease tensions.
Wang told Blinken that relations between the world’s two largest economies were “beginning to stabilise”, especially after Biden and President Xi Jinping met in November near San Francisco.
“But at the same time, the negative factors in the relationship are still increasing and building,” Wang said.
Saying that China “advocated respect for each other’s core interests”, Wang demanded that the United States not “trample on China’s red line” on sovereignty, security and development. “China’s legitimate development rights have been unreasonably suppressed and our core interests are facing challenges,” he said.