Face-to-face diplomacy crucial to steer US-China ties clear of conflict

Observers warn the decline in official communication and backchannel talks since the Trump era has exacerbated suspicions on both sides

While a possible meeting between Xi and Biden in November is a good sign, their credibility will hinge largely on their ability to avert Taiwan Strait crisis

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Henry Kissinger (right) meets with China’s then premier Zhou Enlai in July 1971 in Beijing. Photo: Handout

Shi Jiangtao

A former diplomat, Shi Jiangtao has worked as a China reporter at the Post for more than a decade.

Published: 6:17pm, 2 Aug 2022Updated: 10:33pm, 2 Aug 2022

When a crisis ensued six years ago over a protocol-breaking phone call between then US president-elect Donald Trump and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, Beijing quickly dispatched its top diplomat to New York on a fence-mending trip.

The hastily arranged visit in December 2016 was hardly a success by diplomatic standards, as Yang Jiechi, President Xi Jinping’s top foreign aide, failed to get a meeting with Trump or secure his commitment on Washington’s decades-old “one China policy”.

Embarrassed by the snub and Trump’s subsequent questioning of previous US administrations’ commitments on the self-ruled island, Beijing did not make Yang’s trip public until days later.

But the debacle did not stop Beijing’s push for a sit-down encounter between Xi and Trump, which eventually occurred at the Mar-a-Lago resort in April 2017.

Although the US-China detente did not last long, the episode became a high point for Yang personally, who was soon elevated as the first diplomat to join the Politburo in 15 years.

In retrospect, it feels like ages since Beijing’s leadership last appeared to put faith in direct communications and diplomatic engagement.