US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China’s top foreign policy official, Wang Yi, will hold their second talks in a month, as the two largest economies ramp up high-level dialog to stabilize ties.
(Bloomberg) — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China’s top foreign policy official, Wang Yi, will hold their second talks in a month, as the two largest economies ramp up high-level dialog to stabilize ties.
The senior diplomats will meet in Jakarta on the sidelines of the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations gathering of foreign ministers on Thursday. Their meeting last month in Beijing was the thorniest of Blinken’s visit to China, with Wang blasting “illegal” US sanctions and putting the blame for worsening ties on Washington.
China and the US have been attempting to rebuild communication channels, while also fighting a tit-for-tat trade war that’s seen both sides restrict exports critical to advanced technologies. The Biden administration has been keen to mend fences with America’s main geopolitical rival, partly to reassure allies that it isn’t dragging them into a conflict. Chinese officials may want to reduce frictions so they can focus on jump-starting the economic recovery.
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Blinken met several top Chinese officials during a trip to Beijing last month, including Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who said afterward it was “very good” the US and China had made progress in steadying ties.
Despite those small gains, the relationship remains tense. Weeks before Blinken arrived in Beijing, US officials’ emails were breached in a hack of government accounts that Microsoft Corp. has said originated from China.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo was among those targeted. She has been a prominent American figure in implementing export curbs on advanced chip technology to China, moves which Beijing has decried as undermining supply chain stability.
When asked on Thursday about the claims that US officials were hacked, China’s Foreign Ministry said that “the US should account for its cyberattacks as soon as possible rather than spread false information and divert attention.”
Blinken’s visit to China was followed by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen last weekend, while US climate envoy John Kerry is set to arrive in Beijing on Sunday for more talks.
Yellen said meetings with officials put ties on a “surer footing” after she stressed that “diversifying” supply chains in narrow areas wasn’t the same as decoupling their economies. Chinese Premier Li Qiang had earlier warned nations that the “politicization” of economic issues will lead to “fragmentation and even confrontation.”
On Wednesday, China’s ambassador to the US, Xie Feng, used a meeting with Assistant Secretary of Defense Ely Ratner to urge Washington to help put bilateral and military relations back on track. Regular contacts between the armed forces of China and the US remain stalled.
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Beijing has said the US must lift certain sanctions before they can restart — likely a reference to the US sanctioning Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu in 2018 over a Russian arms purchase.
Wang is attending the Asean gathering because China’s foreign minister, Qin Gang, had to skip it due to what his government termed a “physical condition,” without providing more details. Qin’s last official engagement was was on June 25, when he met officials from Sri Lanka, Russia and Vietnam.
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