BEIJING: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday the United States and China have an obligation to manage their relationship responsibly, and that he told Chinese leaders during meetings in Beijing that direct engagement is the best way to ensure disagreements do not turn into conflict.
Speaking to reporters in Beijing, Blinken said he had candid and substantive discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping and top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi.
“I would expect additional visits by senior U.S. officials to China over the coming weeks,” Blinken said during a news conference. He added that Washington welcomes further visits by Chinese officials to the United States.
For his part, Xi said he was satisfied with the talks.
While both sides agreed on the need to stabilize communication, Blinken will not return to Washington with an agreement from the Chinese side to set up military-to-military communication channels.
“At this moment, China has not agreed to move forward with that,” Blinken said.
Washington says military communication lines should remain open in the event of a crisis.
Ali Wyne, a senior analyst with Eurasia Group’s Global Macro-Geopolitics practice, said in an email to VOA that while it is concerning that China did not accept Blinken’s proposal to establish military communication channels, Xi’s decision to meet with Blinken “suggests that China, not just the United States, appreciates the importance of slowing the deterioration of U.S.-China ties.”
“The trip will not — and was not — expected to change the fundamentally and intensely competitive nature of U.S.-China relations, but it will give the two countries an opportunity to increase the frequency and broaden the scope of high-level dialogues,” he said.
Blinken said he raised U.S. concerns about provocative Chinese actions in the Taiwan Strait. He said he reiterated that the United States does not support Taiwan independence and that it continues to expect the peaceful resolution of cross-strait differences.
For decades, the U.S. has been clear that its decision to establish diplomatic relations with China in 1979 rested on the expectation that “the future of Taiwan will be determined by peaceful means,” as stipulated in the Taiwan Relations Act.
(VOA)
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