US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi began talks on Friday in Beijing, with agenda items expected to include China’s alleged support for Russia’s defense industry as well as tensions around Taiwan and the South China Sea.
Blinken, who returned to the Asian country for the first time in 10 months, is also likely to raise US concerns about Beijing’s overcapacity in electric vehicles and other industries. He may meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping later in the day.
Combined photo shows US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) and China’s top diplomat Wang Yi. (Kyodo)
His three-day China visit through Friday is part of the two countries’ efforts to stabilize relations despite their differences on many issues amid an intensifying rivalry.
The visit follows a trip to China by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen earlier this month after Xi and US President Joe Biden confirmed the importance of enhanced high-level bilateral dialogue to stabilize relations during phone talks.
Washington claims China has been transferring various goods and weapons components to Russia that Moscow has used to assist its military production amid its invasion of Ukraine.
In Taiwan, the incoming leader Lai Ching-te, whom Beijing has condemned as an independence advocate, will take office on May 20. Earlier this week, the US Congress passed legislation to provide financial support for the Indo-Pacific, including Taipei, as it faces increased military pressure from Beijing.
China has also been irked by a recent agreement between the United States, the Philippines and Japan to deepen their defense and economic cooperation in a move aimed at pushing back against Beijing’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region.
Beijing and Manila have been engaged in a territorial dispute in the South China Sea, with the two countries’ vessels often involved in collisions.
China claims that Washington makes “groundless accusations over the normal trade and economic exchanges” between China and Russia and urges that the United States not interfere with issues related to Taiwan, saying they are internal affairs and “the first red line that must not be crossed .”
Communist-led China and Taiwan have been separately governed since they split due to a civil war in 1949. Beijing views the self-ruled democratic island as a renegade province to be unified with the mainland, by force if necessary.
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