Blinken is visiting China for three days, partly to insist that the People’s Republic no longer supplies Russia with products that are useful for Russia’s armaments or arms industry.
The Chinese leader emphasized that relations between the two countries are developing positively. “Many problems still need to be solved. Additional efforts are still possible,” he told Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. “The two countries should be partners, not rivals.”
“I have put forward three important principles: mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation,” Xi said about Sino-US relations. “The Earth is big enough for both China and the United States to develop and prosper.”
Blinken has asked China to refrain from “dangerous” maneuvers near the Philippines in the South China Sea. “I have made it clear that the US will continue to de-escalate tensions, but that we remain steadfast in our commitment to the defense of the Philippines,” he said at a press conference after the meeting.
‘Comprehensive and constructive’
Before the meeting with the Chinese president, Blinken spoke for more than 5.5 hours with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. A US diplomat called the lengthy conversation “comprehensive and constructive”.
Relations between China and the US have improved recently, especially since Xi held a call with President Joe Biden in California in late 2023 on the sidelines of a US-Asia summit. Relations improved not only between the leaders of the two powers. According to American media, the number of flights between the two countries has doubled since Xi and Biden’s meeting in Woodside, California.
Blinken and his Chinese interlocutors agreed on Friday that work must continue in the spirit of that meeting in California. They also agree that the two countries should increase cooperation on counter-narcotics, climate change and artificial intelligence (AI). A special US-Chinese meeting is being organized on AI.
But the differences of opinion on a range of issues remain large. Wang said on Friday that the number of “negative factors” in the relationship between the two states is increasing. According to the foreign minister, the US is trying to thwart China’s development, but he did not elaborate.
There have been frictions between Beijing and Washington for years over the status of Taiwan, mutual trade, the development and exploitation of new technology, Chinese claims on the South China Sea, the position of minorities and in particular the Uyghurs in China and relations between the People’s Republic and Russia.
Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun was received by his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoigu in Moscow on Friday. Shoigu said that “China and Russia continue to increase their military cooperation.”
