Blinken’s visit, the second in less than a year

The head of American diplomacy has started his trip to Shanghai, according to AFP. He must attend a basketball match between two teams with American players in their ranks.

The stop, intended to demonstrate the warm ties between the Americans and the Chinese, is the first in Shanghai by a US secretary of state since 2010.

Blinken will hold talks with Chinese leaders in Beijing on Friday, during which he is expected to plead for restraint as the new president prepares to be inaugurated in Taiwan.

He is also expected to voice American concerns about China’s trade practices, which Washington sees as anti-competitive, a key issue for President Joe Biden in this election year.

Antony Blinken is also in China to ease tensions between the world’s two largest economies, which have eased significantly since his visit in June.

This was followed by a meeting between Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in San Francisco in November that led to continued contact between the two militaries and cooperation in the fight against the production of fentanyl, the synthetic drug wreaking havoc in the United States.

Sino-US relations are at a “different stage from where we were a year ago, when bilateral relations were at an all-time low,” a senior US official said ahead of Antony Blinken’s visit.

“We also believe (…) that the responsible management of competition does not mean that we should give up taking measures to protect the national interests of the United States”, he declared.

The Joe Biden administration’s desire to cooperate with China stands in stark contrast to efforts to insulate Russia from its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

If the Chinese are not directly supplying arms to Russia, Washington has accused them in recent weeks of supplying the country with dual-use equipment and technologies that facilitate its rearmament efforts, the most important since Soviet times.

“If China wants to have friendly relations with Europe and other countries on the one hand, it cannot on the other hand encourage what is the biggest threat to European security since the end of the Cold War,” Blinken said on Friday after the G7 meeting. in Italy.

The US government called the deal with Xi Jinping on fentanyl a success. According to a senior State Department official, China appears to have taken initial steps, which Blinken will ask to be expanded.

“More regular repressive measures (…) would send a strong signal” about his commitment, he noted.

Taiwan is among the sensitive issues likely to be raised.

The US Congress on Tuesday gave the green light to a $95 billion military aid package for Washington’s allies such as Taipei.

In response, China warned that US military support for the island only increases the “risk of conflict”, threatening “decisive and effective measures to protect its sovereignty, security and territorial integrity”.

Another source of friction is legislation passed by the US Congress on Tuesday that requires the TikTok app to be sold by its Chinese parent company ByteDance, under penalty of exclusion from the US market.

When asked, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin simply referred to “China’s principled position” on the issue on Wednesday.

In March, China called on Washington to “respect the rules of the market economy” and indicated that it would take “all necessary measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.”

In a few months, Joe Biden will face Donald Trump in the presidential election, who has advocated a hard line towards Beijing.

Yun Sun, a researcher at the Stimson Center in the US capital, notes that Chinese leaders are waiting before this election.

“The Chinese understand that the Biden administration is unlikely to deliver good news on trade because it doesn’t fit into the election platform,” she said.

For Chinese leaders this year, “maintaining the stability of relations is a priority,” Yun Sun continued.

“Until it’s clear about the next administration, I don’t think they see a better strategy,” she added.