US wants China to follow global rules
WASHINGTON: The United States will not block China from growing its economy, but wants it to adhere to international rules, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday in a long-awaited speech on US strategy to address China’s rise as a great power.
Washington will not try to change China’s political system, but will defend international law and institutions that maintain peace and security and make it possible for countries to coexist, he said.
“We are not looking for conflict or a new Cold War. To the contrary, we’re determined to avoid both,” Mr Blinken said in the 45-minute speech at George Washington University, which covered most contentious bilateral issues.
US-China relations sank to their lowest level in decades under former President Donald Trump and have soured further under President Joe Biden, a Democrat who has kept up his Republican predecessor’s sweeping tariffs on Chinese goods while pursuing closer ties with allies to push back against Beijing.
Seventeen months into his administration Mr Biden had faced criticism from Republicans and some foreign policy watchers for not announcing a formal strategy on China, the world’s second-largest economy and Washington’s main strategic rival.
Foreign crises, including the messy US withdrawal from Afghanistan last year and Russia’s war in Ukraine, have created distractions for Biden, who has vowed not to let China surpass the United States as global leader on his watch.
But his administration has sought to capitalise on fresh solidarity with allies spurred by the Ukraine crisis and the “no-limits” partnership China announced with Moscow just weeks before Russia’s Feb 24 invasion of its neighbour.
Mr Blinken said China posed “the most serious long-term challenge to the international order”.
He laid out the contours of a strategy to invest in US competitiveness and align with allies and partners to compete with China, calling that competition “ours to lose”.
He said the Biden administration stood ready to increase direct communication with Beijing across a full range of issues, and would “respond positively” if Chinese officials take action to address concerns.
“But we cannot rely on Beijing to change its trajectory. So we will shape the strategic environment around Beijing to advance our vision for an open and inclusive international system.”
In response, China’s Washington embassy said the US and China shared “extensive common interests and profound cooperation potential” and “competition [...] should not be used to define the overall picture of the China-US relations”.
“China and the US both stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation,” embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said.
He noted a virtual summit between Mr Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping last November and said the relationship was “at a critical crossroads”.