Antony Blinken’s trip to China shows desire to re-engage, ‘avoid worst-case scenario’

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in China for a two-day trip on Sunday, four months after putting off a visit over a ‘spy balloon’ spat

Phone call over Beijing’s ‘bottom line’ likely to set tone for visit, with a cautious US aware of the impact of ‘tense trend’, observers say

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Secretary of State Antony Blinken will be the first Cabinet-level official to visit China since President Joe Biden took office in 2021. Photo: AP

Published: 9:00am, 16 Jun 2023

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to meet senior officials on his high-stakes trip to China this weekend, but observers have little expectations of a major breakthrough in ties even though the long-awaited visit indicates a desire from the two powers to re-engage.

Both Washington and Beijing on Wednesday confirmed that Blinken would arrive in China for a two-day visit on Sunday, the first top US diplomat to make such a trip in five years. The trip also comes four months after Blinken put off a planned visit at the last minute in a spat over a Chinese spy balloon entering US airspace.

According to the US State Department, Blinken would discuss the importance of maintaining open lines of communication to “responsibly manage” the relationship, while raising bilateral issues of concern.

“Intense competition requires intense and tough diplomacy to ensure that competition does not veer into confrontation or conflict, and that’s what we intend for this visit,” spokesman Matthew Miller said.

Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, said the call between Blinken and his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang earlier on Wednesday would set the tone for the US official’s visit.