Beijing urges US to ‘end obsession with containing China’ ahead of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit

A commentary in the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily appeals to Washington to seek common ground and shun a ‘blind anti-China approach’
The expected trip to China follows a meeting between Xi Jinping and Joe Biden last year, but is not expected to lead to a major shift in relations

US-China relations

Kinling Loin Beijing

Published: 7:00pm, 1 Feb 2023

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China has urged the United States to put aside its containment policies and seek better cooperation ahead of a visit from Secretary of State Antony Blinken that is expected to take place next week.

“The US should end its obsession with containing China,” a commentary in the Communist Party’s mouthpiece People’s Daily said on Wednesday.

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“[The two countries] have had differences and disputes in the past, have them in the present and will also do so in the future, but this should not be an obstacle to developing our bilateral relationship,” the commentary said.

The article warned the US not to adopt a “blind anti-China approach” and urged Washington to find “common ground” for both sides to tackle the global economic recovery, climate change and geopolitical issues.

The piece attributed to “Zhong Sheng” – a pen name used for commentaries on major international affairs in China’s flagship state media – repeated a series of demands President Xi Jinping made when meeting his US counterpart Joe Biden last year.

Xi warned the US president to avoid a new cold war, not to support Taiwanese independence and to stop working with its allies against China.

“The Taiwan issue is the core of China’s core interests, the basis of the political foundation of Sino-US relations, and the first insurmountable red line in Sino-US relations,” it said.

While Blinken’s visit – first announced after Xi and Biden met for the first time as heads of state at the Group of 20 summit in Bali last November – may be a sign that both sides are keen to keep talking, it is not widely expected to lead to a significant change in the relationship.

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No official itinerary for Blinken’s visit has been released, but Reuters quoted an official source as saying the State Department is eyeing February 6 for a meeting with China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Beijing.

Politico earlier reported that the visit would take place on February 5 and 6.

Blinken will be the most senior Biden administration official to visit China after the Covid pandemic limited visits. The last secretary of state to visit was Mike Pompeo in the middle of the escalating trade war during Donald Trump’s presidency.

The two countries have seen mounting tensions in recent years over issues such as tariffs, human rights and US export restrictions on hi-tech products to China.

China plans for Antony Blinken trip, urges US to ‘stick to dialogue’

However, differences over Taiwan – which Beijing considers a renegade province – has become the sharpest area of disagreement as both sides step up their military presence in the Taiwan Strait.

Another major source of tension is China’s perceived support for Russia’s war against Ukraine. Russia announced recently that Xi would be visiting the country around the anniversary of the invasion, which Beijing has consistently refused to condemn.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday that Blinken will bring up the war when he visits China.

Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met in Bali during the G20 summit in November. Photo: AFP

He also said Blinken will try to restore regular dialogues – including between the two countries’ militaries and on climate change – after Beijing suspended them in response to former House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August.

“One of the goals of this trip is to see about getting some of those vehicles restored and or revitalised,” Kirby said, because “this is the most consequential bilateral relationship in the world”.