US should not create fresh frictions

United States President Joe Biden and the other leaders of the so-called Quad members — Japan, India and Australia — will hold their first summit on Friday, albeit virtually, in a move widely seen as intended to foster greater cooperation among the four to counter China, which they all regard as getting too uppity.

While the topics mentioned so far are mostly shared concerns such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and the US State Department has said the so-called Quad is “not about any single competitor”, the discussions are unlikely to conclude without any exchange of concerns about China being “increasingly assertive”.

It is being reported that Chinese and US officials are discussing a “near-term” meeting between State Secretary Antony Blinken and top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi. These two meetings may seem contradictory. But this is the stark reality of the relationship.

While there are those wishing the Sino-US relationship could return to the days of positive engagement, the Interim National Security Strategic Guidance just released by the Biden administration, while promising cooperation where necessary and possible, takes a leaf out of the Donald Trump administration’s National Security Strategy by identifying China as the US’ foremost strategic concern.

Many Chinese and US scholars have appealed to the Biden administration to reposition China-US relations as “coopetition”. But here’s the thing, to Washington, it seems the upsides of competition far outweigh the benefits of cooperation.

The mooted meeting of Blinken and Yang, if it materializes, will be of particular significance. As the first official face-to-face high-level contact since Biden became president, it could anchor ties that have been drifting dangerously toward estrangement and confrontation.

Yang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, has conveyed a message from Beijing via the nongovernmental National Committee on US-China Relations in New York.

In a Feb 2 video conference with members of the NGO, Yang expressed hopes that the new US administration would develop a fair understanding of China, restore normal communication and exchanges with it, properly handle differences and engage in mutually beneficial cooperation. He called for joint efforts to push bilateral relations to a “predictable, constructive track” and stick to developing a relationship defined by no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation.

But while the Biden administration has promised what it considers a more cooperative approach than its predecessor, there is obviously a long way to go to put relations on a more constructive track.

If US alliances such as the Quad have a Cold War mentality against China, then it will be very difficult indeed for the cooperative aspect of the ChinaUS relationship to gain traction.