BEIJING (AP) \u2014 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Beijing early Sunday on a high-stakes diplomatic mission to try to cool exploding U.S.-China tensions that have set many around the world on edge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blinken was to begin two days of talks with senior Chinese officials in the afternoon. He is the highest-level American official to visit China since President Joe Biden took office and the first secretary of state to make the trip in five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The trip comes after he postponed plans to visit in February after the shootdown of a Chinese surveillance balloon over the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet prospects for any significant breakthrough on the most vexing issues facing the planet\u2019s two largest economies are slim, as already ties have grown increasingly fraught in recent years. Animosity and recriminations have steadily escalated over a series of disagreements that have implications for global security and stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blinken plans to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Sunday, top diplomat Wang Yi, and possibly President Xi Jinping on Monday, according to U.S. officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden and Xi agreed to Blinken\u2019s trip early at a meeting last year in Bali. It came within a day of happening in February but was delayed by the diplomatic and political tumult brought on by the discovery of what the U.S. says was a\u00a0Chinese spy balloon flying across the United States\u00a0that was shot down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The list of disagreements and potential conflict points is long: ranging from trade with Taiwan, human rights conditions in China to Hong Kong, as well as the Chinese military assertiveness in the South China Sea to Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. officials said before Blinken\u2019s departure from Washington on Friday that he would raise each of them, though neither side has shown any inclination to back down on their positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shortly before leaving, Blinken emphasized the importance of the U.S. and China establishing and maintaining better lines of communication. The U.S. wants to make sure \u201cthat the competition we have with China doesn\u2019t veer into conflict\u201d due to avoidable misunderstandings, he told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden and Xi had made commitments to improve communications\u00a0\u201cprecisely so that we can make sure we are communicating as clearly as possible to avoid possible misunderstandings and miscommunications,\u201d Blinken said Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Xi offered a hint of a possible willingness to reduce tensions, saying in a meeting with Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates on Friday that the United States and China can cooperate to \u201cbenefit our two countries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI believe that the foundation of Sino-U.S. relations lies in the people,\u201d Xi said to Gates. \u201cUnder the current world situation, we can carry out various activities that benefit our two countries, the people of our countries, and the entire human race.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden told White House reporters Saturday he was \u201choping that over the next several months, I\u2019ll be meeting with Xi again and talking about legitimate differences we have, but also how … to get along.\u201d Chances could come at a Group of 20 leaders\u2019 gathering in September in New Delhi and at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November in San Francisco that the United States is hosting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since the cancellation of Blinken\u2019s trip in February, there have been some high-level engagements. CIA chief William Burns\u00a0traveled to China\u00a0in May, while China\u2019s commerce minister traveled to the U.S. And Biden\u2019s national security adviser Jake Sullivan\u00a0met with Yi in Vienna\u00a0in May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But those have been punctuated by bursts of angry rhetoric from both sides over the Taiwan Strait, their broader intentions in the Indo-Pacific, China\u2019s refusal to condemn Russia for\u00a0its war against Ukraine, and U.S. allegations from Washington that Beijing is attempting to boost\u00a0its worldwide surveillance capabilities, including in Cuba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And, earlier this month, China\u2019s defense minister rebuffed\u00a0a request from U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin\u00a0for a meeting on the sidelines of a security symposium in Singapore, a sign of continuing discontent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Austin said Friday he was confident that he and his Chinese counterpart would meet \u201cat some point in time, but we\u2019re not there yet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Underscoring the situation, China rejected a report by a U.S. security firm, that\u00a0blamed Chinese-linked hackers\u00a0for attacks on hundreds of public agencies, schools and other targets around the world,\u00a0as \u201cfar-fetched and unprofessional\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson repeated accusations that Washington carries out hacking attacks and complained the cybersecurity industry rarely reports on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That followed a similar retort earlier in the week when China said Qin had in a phone call with Blinken urged the United States to respect \u201cChina\u2019s core concerns\u201d such as\u00a0the issue of Taiwan\u2019s self-rule, and \u201cstop interfering in China\u2019s internal affairs, and stop harming China\u2019s sovereignty, security and development interests in the name of competition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, the national security advisers of\u00a0the United States, Japan and the Philippines\u00a0held their first joint talks Friday and agreed to strengthen their defense cooperation, in part to counter China\u2019s growing influence and ambitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This coincides with the Biden administration inking an agreement with Australia and Britain to\u00a0provide the first with nuclear-powered submarines, with China moving rapidly to expand its diplomatic presence, especially in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific island nations, where it has opened or has plans to open at least five new embassies over the next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The agreement is part of an 18-month-old nuclear partnership given the\u00a0acronym AUKUS\u00a0\u2014 for Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking before Blinken\u2019s departure, two U.S. officials downplayed hopes for major progress and stressed that the trip was intended to restore a sense of calm and normalcy to high-level contacts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re coming to Beijing with a realistic, confident approach and a sincere desire to manage our competition in the most responsible way possible,\u201d said Daniel Kritenbrink, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia and the Pacific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kurt Campbell, the top Asia expert at the National Security Council, said \u201cintense competition requires intense diplomacy if we\u2019re going to manage tensions. That is the only way to clear up misperceptions, to signal, to communicate, and to work together where and when our interests align.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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