NUSA DUA, Indonesia : U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met
his Chinese counterpart on Saturday in a new effort to try to rein in or at
least manage rampant hostility that has come to define recent relations
between Washington and Beijing.
Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi were holding talks in the
Indonesian resort of Bali, a day after they both attended a gathering of top
diplomats from the Group of 20 rich and large developing countries that
failed to reach consensus over Russia’s war in Ukraine and how to deal
with its impacts.
Wang and Blinken were discussing a range of contentious issues from
tariffs and trade and human rights to Taiwan and disputes in the South
China Sea. Just two days earlier, the two countries’ top military officers
had faced off over Taiwan during a virtual meeting.
“In a relationship as complex and consequential as the one between the
United States and China, there is a lot to talk about and I’m very much
looking forward to a productive, constructive conversation,” Blinken said
as the pair headed into the closed-door meeting.
Wang said “it is necessary for the two countries to maintain normal
exchanges” and “to work together to ensure that this relationship will
continue to move forward along the right track.”
He echoed frequent Chinese lines about remaining committed to the
principles of “mutual respect,” “peaceful coexistence” and “win-win
cooperation.” That, he said, “serves the interests of the two countries and
two peoples. It is also the shared aspiration of the international
community.”
U.S. officials said ahead of time they don’t expect any breakthroughs from
Blinken’s talks with Wang. But they said they are hopeful the conversation
can help keep lines of communications open and create “guardrails” to
guide the world’s two largest economies as they navigate increasingly
complex and potentially explosive matters.
The United States and China have staked out increasingly confrontational
positions, including on Ukraine, that some fear could lead to
miscalculation and conflict. The U.S. has watched warily as China has
refused to criticize the Russian invasion, while condemning Western
sanctions against Russia and accusing the U.S. and NATO of provoking the
conflict.
The Biden administration had hoped that China, with its long history of
opposing what it sees as interference in its own internal affairs, would take
a similar position with Ukraine. But, it has not, choosing instead what U.S.
officials see as a hybrid position that is damaging the international rules-
based order.
At the G-20 meeting, Wang made an oblique reference to China’s policy on
global stability, saying “to place one’s own security above the security of
others and intensify military blocs will only split the international
community and make oneself less secure,” according to the Chinese
Foreign Ministry.
On Thursday, China’s joint chiefs of staff chairman Gen. Li Zuocheng
upbraided his U.S. counterpart Gen. Mark Milley over Washington’s
support for Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a renegade province.
Li demanded that the U.S. cease military “collusion” with Taiwan, saying
China has “no room for compromise” on issues affecting its “core interests,”
which include self-governing Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own
territory to be annexed by force if necessary.
“China demands the U.S. … cease reversing history, cease U.S.-Taiwan
military collusion and avoid impacting China-U.S. ties and stability in the
Taiwan Strait,” Li said.
At the same time, Li was also quoted in a Defense Ministry news release as
saying China hoped to “further strengthen dialogue, handle risks, and
promote cooperation, rather than deliberately creating confrontation,
provoking incidents and becoming mutually exclusive.”
China routinely flies warplanes near Taiwan to advertise its threat to
attack, and the island’s Defense Ministry said Chinese air force aircraft
crossed the middle line of the Taiwan Strait dividing the two sides on
Friday morning.
The meeting between Li and Milley followed fiery comments by Chinese
Defense Minister Wei Fenghe at a regional security conference last month
that was also attended by U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
Wei accused the United States of trying to “hijack” the support of countries
in the Asia-Pacific region to turn them against Beijing, saying Washington
is seeking to advance its own interests “under the guise of
multilateralism.”
At the same meeting in Singapore, Austin said China
was causing
instability with its claim to Taiwan and its increased military activity in
the area.
In May, Blinken incurred Chinese wrath by calling the country the “most
serious long-term challenge to the international order” for the United
States, with its claims to Taiwan and efforts to dominate the strategic
South China Sea.
The U.S. and its allies have responded with what they term “freedom of
navigation” patrols in the South China Sea, prompting angry responses
from Beijing.