U. S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has arrived in Beijing to conduct talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang. Much of the coverage is on what’s at stake but what has struck me is how subdued his reception has been there. Pay less attention to the analysis than to the atmospherics.
Update
I welcome the meeting between Secretary of State Blinken and Chinese President Xi:
Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed “progress” after shaking hands with Blinken at the Great Hall of the People, a grand venue usually reserved for greeting heads of state.
The top U.S. diplomat and Xi both stressed the importance of having a more stable relationship, as any conflict between the world’s two largest economies would create global disruption.
We should not lose sight of Chinese thought respecting the difference between barbarous and civilized countries.
Also, take note of the body language of Secretary Blinken and President Xi. How do you interpret that?
Blinken is part of the group fomenting the hostility towards China, and reversing over 50 years of US policy regarding Taiwan. They probably see him as a snake in the grass.
There even have been a couple of US flag officers speculating in public that we will be at war with China by 2025. One I believe is commander of US forces in the Pacific.
It is very hard to believe that we will be at war with both Russia and China in less than two years, but Blinken, Austin and other senior US officials are totally delusional, and they are pursuing extremely aggressive foreign policies in all theaters. They’ve even reactivated the Kosovo conflict.
from flipping thru the official Peoples Daily, appears that government is not impressed. Top of the line, “Xi meets Gates” while foreign relations news, the top story is Chinese Premier meets Palestinian President.
Gates is a much more important person to Xi than Blinken or Biden. Both of these men (B & B) have cultivated nothing but disrespect from the China leader, and for that matter most leaders around the world.
(Tried to leave this space blank, close your eyes and see blankness)
The meeting is the result of a tactical alignment from the Washington and Beijing that to not let the relationship deteriorate any further.
For Xi, the biggest current challenge currently is a slow “U shaped” economic recovery and adding economic stress from geopolitics would be imprudent. For Biden, the polling says he’s questionable for reelection and either a China-led economic downtown or a crisis in relations would be disastrous for 2024.
Through I look at the strategic level and I don’t any reason for either to improve relations. In the 70’s and 80’s, both sides wanted to defeat the Soviet Union, then the 90’s and 00’s, both sides thought they could get rich trade. As an illustration, on Ukraine, look at their interests. The US wants Ukraine to “win”; China wants the US to become as entangled as possible in Ukraine without winning.