2023-05-08 18:23:00
The American Nicholas Burns has been ambassador to Beijing for thirteen months. Only now was he allowed to meet China’s foreign minister.
Beijing is sending signals of affront and relaxation at the same time. While China uninvited German Finance Minister Christian Lindner from the FDP, which faces Taiwan, shortly before his planned visit to Beijing, Foreign Minister Qin Gang received the American ambassador on Monday. Qin revealed to Nicholas Burns a slight thaw, which should probably also arrive in Berlin. China’s foreign minister is expected in Germany on Tuesday.
Qin told the US ambassador that it is “absolutely necessary to stabilize Sino-US relations, avoid a downward spiral, and prevent China-US accidents.” It’s also of great importance to the world, said Qin, who received Burns for the first time in his new role as foreign minister.
Burns had already taken up his post as ambassador in April last year. However, he was only able to hand over his credentials to head of state and party leader Xi Jinping two weeks ago. The conversation between Qin and Burns in Peking was now one of the highest-ranking talks between representatives of both countries since the balloon affair at the beginning of the year.
Qin promoted relations with the USA back on “the right path”. To do this, however, he set conditions that are not very different from China’s old positions. In particular, Washington must “stop undercutting the one-China principle,” Qin said. With this “principle” China means that Taiwan is part of China and that the only legitimate Chinese state is the People’s Republic. Qin called this “China’s fundamental principle” to Burns, which should be respected.
China upset over Taiwan President’s trip
The Chinese blamed the United States alone for the situation. One cannot, like Washington, demand better communication channels on the one hand and “suppress and contain” China on the other, said Qin. American “flawed” actions and words had the “hard-won positive moment” after the Xi-President meeting Joe Biden in Indonesia from last year was nullified. Now the US should “think deeply” and “meet China halfway” to improve ties. Ambassador Burns said the same thing last week: Washington is ready to talk, but hopes that China will meet halfway.
After a suspected Chinese spy balloon was shot down off the coast of South Carolina in early February, already tense US-Chinese relations had hit a new low. The balloon had previously crossed the US mainland from Alaska and Canada and was reportedly able to send real-time images of sensitive military installations to China. Beijing denied this, claiming the flying object was for scientific purposes and went off course.
Foreign Minister Antony Blinken had canceled a planned trip to Beijing because of the incident. Efforts by Washington to catch up on this in the spring, also to underline the importance of communication channels in times of crisis, failed due to Chinese resistance. Most recently, the reception of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy near Los Angeles in early April is said to have prompted Beijing to ignore Blinken’s travel requests. In addition, American intelligence reports that Beijing was considering arms deliveries to Moscow had further strained relations. President Biden threatened sanctions if he did.
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Nicholas Burns tweeted that the conversation with Qin discussed the “challenges” in the bilateral relationship and the need for high-level communication channels. China recently made it clear with a trip by Xi to Moscow and a mediation between Saudi Arabia and Iran that it seeks to challenge the dominance of the United States in international politics. Jake Sullivan, the National Security Advisor, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently emphasized in keynote speeches that they are betting on “de-risking” rather than “decoupling” in competing with China.
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