(Beijing) Secretary of State Antony Blinken is meeting with the head of Chinese diplomacy in Beijing on Monday and may meet with President Xi Jinping, on the last day of a rare visit intended to ease bilateral tensions.
The American official had been received on Sunday with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang for seven and a half hours, much more than expected, the two parties agreeing to maintain communication between them in order to avoid any conflict.
Neither side has confirmed a meeting between Antony Blinken and Xi Jinping, whose meeting with US President Joe Biden in November in Bali raised cautious hopes of a thaw in relations.
But an interview between the secretary of state and his Chinese host seems likely, especially after the interview last week in Beijing between Mr. Xi and another American, the ex-boss of Microsoft and philanthropist Bill Gates.
“You are the first American friend I have met this year,” the Chinese head of state told him, according to the New China news agency.
“We have always placed our hopes in the American people and hope that the friendship between the two peoples will continue,” he said, visibly anxious to send a message of appeasement.
In the meantime, Antony Blinken began a closed-door meeting on Monday morning with Wang Yi, who by virtue of his functions within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has the upper hand in Chinese diplomacy while Qin Gang has the title of Minister of Foreign Affairs. Foreign Affairs.
PHOTO LEAH MILLIS, REUTERS
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang
Taiwan and Uighurs
In addition to the very thorny question of the links between the United States and Taiwan, an island claimed by Beijing and at the heart of the confrontation between the two powers, bilateral relations remain tense on a large number of issues.
Among them, the rivalry in technologies, the American sanctions targeting the Chinese digital giants, trade, the treatment of the Muslim minority of the Uyghurs in China or even the Chinese claims in the South China Sea.
US officials have said they do not expect major breakthroughs from Antony Blinken’s visit, other than ensuring that lines of communication are kept open to avoid major conflict.
The two countries announced on Sunday that Qin Gang had accepted an offer from the US Secretary of State to pay a visit to the United States, on a date yet to be determined.
PHOTO LEAH MILLIS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang
Sunday’s exchanges between the two men, concluded in the evening with a banquet at the Diaoyutai diplomatic compound, dotted with gardens, were “frank, substantial and constructive”, said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
Mr. Blinken notably underlined “the importance of diplomacy and of maintaining open channels of communication on all issues in order to reduce the risk of misperception and miscalculation”, he specified.
” Danger ”
The Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs, for his part, deplored to his American counterpart that Beijing-Washington ties are “at their lowest” since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1979, according to an account of Chinese diplomacy.
“This is not in line with the fundamental interests of our two peoples, nor with the common expectations of the international community,” he stressed.
But the Chinese diplomat forcefully reaffirmed his country’s position on the Taiwan issue, in the face of what Beijing perceives as a continuous rapprochement in recent years between Washington and the Taiwanese authorities, from a pro-independence party.
“The Taiwan issue constitutes the core of China’s fundamental interests, the most important issue in China-US relations and the most significant peril,” Qin Gang said, according to his ministry.
“China urges the United States to abide by the one-China principle”, i.e. not to have official relations with Taiwan and “to implement its commitment not to support Taiwanese separatists “, he underlined.
A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the interview went beyond the usual discussions, including on Taiwan.
“It was a real conversation,” he said.
Antony Blinken’s visit is the first by a US secretary of state to China since his predecessor Mike Pompeo’s October 2018 trip.