The heads of Chinese and American diplomacy, Wang Yi and Antony Blinken, tried on Saturday July 9, 2022 to ease tensions between their respective countries during a rare meeting on the Indonesian island of Bali. This is the first face-to-face meeting between the two diplomats since last October.
Wang Yi told reporters that the two countries should maintain normal relations and get their relationship back on track.
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Complex relationship
Antony Blinken felt at the start of their interview that nothing could substitute for diplomacy ” in person “.
“In a relationship as complex and important as the one between the United States and China, there are many things to discuss”Antony Blinken said, as he and Wang Yi posed in front of the American and Chinese flags at a hotel in Bali, at the start of a morning of discussions followed by a working lunch. “We look forward to a productive and constructive conversation”he added.
“China and the United States are two big countries, so it is necessary for the two countries to maintain normal exchanges”replied Mr. Wang. “We must work together to ensure that this relationship continues to progress on the right track”he added, calling on the ” mutual respect “.
G20 against the background of the war in Ukraine
The meeting between the two officials, the first since October, comes after a meeting of G20 foreign ministers the day before in Bali.
As the West strives to isolate Russia after the invasion of Ukraine and the global economy is plagued by growing uncertainties, China and the United States have taken precautionary measures to prevent that their innumerable differences do not degenerate into uncontrollable conflict.
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The United States will seek “to do everything possible to prevent any miscalculation which could inadvertently lead to a conflict”the top American diplomat for East Asia, Daniel Kritenbrink, told reporters before the meeting.
Future meetings between presidents
The meeting between Messrs. Wang and Blinken must also prepare a virtual meeting between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in the coming weeks. Meetings between the two countries’ top defense, finance and national security officials have also taken place over the past two months.
For the Chinese state newspaper GlobalTimesknown for his criticism of the United States, the growing interaction between Beijing and Washington is a sign of a “consensus of the two parties to avoid an escalation”.
But tensions remain high, especially over Taiwan. The United States is concerned about the growing military pressure from Beijing on the democratic island which it considers an integral part of its territory and which it has sworn to take back one day.
hard line
Joe Biden has largely retained the substance of his predecessor Donald Trump’s hard line on China.
But in a recent speech, the American president made it clear that the United States was not seeking to trigger a new ” cold War “even if he maintained his criticisms, in particular by accusing Beijing of genocide against the Uighur people, mainly Muslims.
The Biden administration is expected to soon ease some of Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods, which could dampen inflation, which has become a major political handicap in the United States.
Cautious optimism
US officials also expressed cautious optimism about China’s stance on Ukraine, condemning its rhetorical support for Russia but also noting that Beijing backed its words with no material support for Russia. Moscow.
“What is striking is the moderation and discretion” with which China approached the Ukraine issue at the G20 on Friday, a Western official noted.
But US officials are well aware that any mini-honeymoon with China could be fleeting.
A convention later this year
They expect Xi Jinping, China’s most powerful leader in decades, to reshuffle his foreign policy team at the Communist Party congress later this year.
But Craig Singleton, who tracks China at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, expects Xi to again appoint technocrats who can work with Washington.
“The reason for this is simple: China’s economy is facing considerable headwinds and Chinese policymakers seem keen to acknowledge that China’s aggressive rhetoric has backfired”he estimated.
