On Saturday, the heads of American and Chinese diplomacy, Wang Yi, and Antony Blinken met on the Indonesian Island of Bali. They welcomed “constructive” conversations and a “consensus” in an effort to calm the turbulent relations between the superpowers.
After five hours of discussions with Wang Yi, Antony Blinken stated that “despite the complexity of our relationship”, he was able to say that his delegations found today’s discussions useful, honest, and constructive. A meeting of the heads for diplomacy at the G20 was held in Bali.
However, he noted that Beijing’s increasing military pressure on Taiwan, which China regards as an integral part its territory and has promised to retake one of these islands, is still a problem for Washington.
“I have voiced my deep concern about Beijing’s provocative rhetorical and other activities toward Taiwan, and stressed the importance of maintaining peace in the Strait. Antony Blinken, who was speaking after the meeting, said that he had received a message from Taiwan.
The meeting was also deemed satisfactory by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He stated that both sides reached a consensus on the basis mutual benefit and reciprocity to ensure that the China-US joint work group gets more results. .
Antony Blinken also requested his Chinese counterpart to distance from Moscow and condemn Russian aggression against Ukraine.
He stated, “This is the time when all of us need to stand up, like one G20 country after the other has done, and condemn the aggression.”
After enduring a torrential of criticisms over the Russian invasion in Ukraine, Sergei Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister, had closed the doors to the G20 meeting.
Antony Blinken stated that there was a strong consensus, and Russia was left isolated as it has been many other times since the beginning of this conflict. He stated that Sergei Lavrov, the Foreign Minister, left the meeting sooner than expected because of the resounding message.
The main goal of the meeting, resumption a high-level dialog between the United States of America and China seems to have been accomplished.
The West is trying to isolate Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, and the global economy has been plagued with growing uncertainties. Beijing and Washington have taken precautionary steps to stop their many differences from escalating into an uncontrollable conflict.
According to the U.S. top diplomat for East Asia, the United States will do “everything possible to prevent any miscalculations that could inadvertently result in conflict,” he told reporters before the meeting. East, Daniel Kristenbrink.
Wang Yi stated that China and the United States are both large countries. Therefore, it was important for them to continue normal exchanges.
Tensions persist. The Taiwan issue aside, US President Joe Biden has mostly retained the substance and hardline of Donald Trump’s previous China policy.
In a recent speech, however, he clarified that his country wasn’t seeking to start a new “cold war”. However, he continued his criticisms of Beijing, accusing them of genocide against Uyghurs who are predominantly Muslim. .
Biden’s administration will likely soon reduce some of Donald Trump’s tariff surcharges on Chinese products. This could help to dampen inflation which has become a significant political handicap in the United States.
The US government is well aware of the possibility that any mini-honeymoons with China may be short-lived.
Xi Jinping is China’s most powerful leader for decades. He will likely reshuffle his foreign-policy team at the Communist Party Congress in the latter part of this year.
Craig Singleton, a Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies analyst, tracks China and expects Xi Jinping again to appoint technocrats capable of working with Washington.
He stated that the reason was simple: China’s economy faces significant headwinds, and Chinese policymakers seem eager to admit that China’s aggressive rhetoric is backfiring.”
