Tensions between US and China: Blinken travels to Beijing American writer Cormac McCarthy passed away

The State Department in Washington officially announced on Wednesday that Blinken would leave for Beijing on Friday and hold political talks there on Sunday and Monday. Blinken is making up for a long-planned trip that he canceled at the last minute in early February over allegations of espionage against China.

A senior US State Department official stressed that given the tense relationship between the two countries, a long list of results from the visit should not be expected. “We have to be realistic,” he stressed. A “breakthrough” is not expected. It is more about maintaining communication channels, responsible competition between the two countries and minimizing the risk of miscalculations.

According to the US State Department, this is Blinken’s first visit to China as department head. “It will be the first visit by a US secretary of state to China since 2018 and the first visit by a US cabinet member since 2019,” the senior official said. There is no substitute for face-to-face meetings. And the United States had a lot of experience speaking with competitors and also cooperating when US interests required it. “Intense competition requires intense diplomacy if we are to manage tensions.”

Relations between the US and China are tense over a slew of issues. Among other things, China’s support for the Russian war in Ukraine, Beijing’s threats against Taiwan and the ongoing trade conflict between the two countries are causing disagreement. President Joe Biden’s administration sees China as the biggest geopolitical challenge and is taking a tough stance on Beijing.

In early February, a dispute over suspected espionage by China had further strained the relationship. The US military has shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the US coast. The United States accused China of using it to spy on military facilities. Beijing, on the other hand, spoke of a civilian research balloon that had gone off course and complained that the Americans had completely overreacted. The US followed suit, accusing China of running a major international espionage program, which Beijing also rejected.

Blinken canceled an impending visit to China at short notice in early February because of the espionage affair. Blinken met China’s top foreign policy leader Wang Yi on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference later in February. However, the meeting did not provide real relaxation. Blinken always emphasized that he wanted to travel to China as soon as the circumstances were right. In recent months, however, there has been little exchange between the two parties. China has long responded coldly to talks offered by Washington.

Finally there was some movement. In May, after a long radio silence, senior representatives from both governments met again: Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, met Wang Yi in Vienna. The US side then said they were ready to put the recent espionage affair behind them. Then, in early June, a senior US State Department official traveled to China. This was in preparation for a visit from Blinken.

But even the cautious communicative approach was not without complications: a few days ago, an incident involving military aircraft from both countries over the South China Sea sparked new discussions. The US government accused China of aggressive interception. Shortly thereafter, the US reported an incident between two ships in the Taiwan Strait. The US government has repeatedly emphasized that such incidents can lead to misunderstandings and misjudgments – it is therefore extremely important to keep the communication channels open between Washington and Beijing and also between the military of both countries.

Shortly before Blinken’s travel announcement, new allegations of China’s efforts to spy on the United States were also made public. Blinken said a few days ago that China has been using the island of Cuba, which is close to the United States, for some time to collect intelligence. He responded to reports in the Wall Street Journal.

In recent days there have been unconfirmed reports in the media about an upcoming trip from Blinken to China, but the ministry had not commented on this. Shortly before the official announcement of the trip, Blinken called his Chinese colleague Qin Gang on Wednesday. According to Chinese state media, he then spoke of the fact that the relationship between the two countries was encountering new difficulties. He again urged the US not to interfere in China’s internal affairs. (sda/dpa)