Beijing – In a significant move to mend and strengthen bilateral ties, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Friday. The meeting culminated Blinken’s three-day visit to China, marking the highest-level engagement between the two nations in recent times.
President Xi emphasized the importance of China and the United States shouldering their responsibilities as major countries to promote world peace and create opportunities for global development. He stated, “As major countries, we should set a good example of how major countries are supposed to act, provide global public goods, and contribute to world solidarity.”
Call for Partnership Over Rivalry
This year marks the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and the U.S., a milestone that Xi highlighted as an opportunity to draw important lessons from the past. He urged both nations to be partners rather than rivals, saying, “China and the U.S. should help each other succeed rather than hurt each other, seek common ground while reserving differences rather than engage in vicious competition, and honor words with actions rather than say one thing but do the opposite.”
Xi proposed three overarching principles for the bilateral relationship: mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation. “They are both lessons learned from the past and a guide for the future,” he noted.
Addressing Fundamental Issues
During the meeting, Xi likened the importance of addressing core issues in China-U.S. relations to fastening the first button on a shirt correctly. “China is happy to see a confident, open, prosperous, and thriving U.S., and hopes the U.S. can also look at China’s development in a positive light,” he said. “This is a fundamental issue that must be addressed for the China-U.S. relationship to truly stabilize, improve, and move forward.”
He emphasized that competition between the two nations should focus on common progress rather than being a zero-sum game. Xi also reaffirmed China’s commitment to non-alignment and cautioned against forming exclusive groups. “Both sides can have their own friends and partners and should refrain from targeting, opposing, or damaging each other,” he remarked.
Expert Insights
Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University of China, commented on the significance of the meeting. “If the U.S. insists on seeing China’s development negatively as a threat and adopts a zero-sum game mentality, there will be more problems in China-U.S. relations,” Wang told CGTN. He stressed the importance of the U.S. changing its perspective on China for the relationship to improve.
Su Xiaohui, deputy director of the Department for American Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, interpreted Xi’s meeting with Blinken as a clear signal of China’s commitment to stabilizing relations. “It’s a very clear signal to the international community that China would like to work with the U.S. instead of taking a rivalry attitude to it,” Su said in an interview with CGTN.
Five-Point Consensus
Earlier on Friday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Blinken, resulting in a five-point consensus aimed at stabilizing and developing China-U.S. relations. Both sides agreed to accelerate the implementation of the important understandings reached by Xi and U.S. President Joe Biden during their summit meeting last November.
The two countries agreed to maintain high-level exchanges and contacts at all levels, including a scheduled visit to the U.S. by China’s special envoy for climate change, Liu Zhenmin. Additionally, they announced plans to hold the first meeting of the China-U.S. intergovernmental dialogue on artificial intelligence and to conduct new rounds of consultations on Asia-Pacific affairs and maritime issues.
The two sides also committed to expanding cultural and people-to-people exchanges and to maintaining consultations on international and regional hotspot issues.
The Taiwan Question and Regional Stability
During his talks with Blinken, Wang Yi reiterated that the Taiwan question is the “first red line” that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations. He urged the U.S. to cease arms sales to Taiwan and to support China’s peaceful reunification efforts.
Wang also criticized U.S. measures perceived as suppressing China’s economy, including sanctions on Chinese companies and tariffs that violate World Trade Organization rules. He called on the U.S. to stop pressuring countries in the Asia-Pacific region to take sides, deploying land-based intermediate-range missiles, and undermining regional peace and stability.
These developments signal a cautious but hopeful step towards stabilizing one of the world’s most critical bilateral relationships, with implications spanning global economics, security, and diplomacy.
Reference(s):
Xi Jinping urges major country responsibilities for China and U.S.
cgtn.com
