Ahead of Antony Blinken visit, China urges US to avoid ‘illusion’ of strength

Foreign ministry says US made a ‘serious misjudgment’ to view China as its biggest geopolitical challenge
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expected to arrive in Beijing on Sunday after earlier trip postponed over ‘spy balloon’ row

US-China relations

Dewey Simin Singapore

Published: 7:54pm, 16 Jun 2023

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China on Friday urged the United States to consider Beijing’s interests and not deal with Beijing from a position of strength, dimming expectations for a breakthrough as Washington’s top envoy Antony Blinken prepares to visit China.

Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, said it was a “serious misjudgment” by the US to view China as its biggest geopolitical challenge.

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While the world’s two largest economies compete on economic and trade fronts, Washington should not engage in a “vicious competition”, and should not contain and suppress China under the guise of competition, Wang said.

“This is not the so-called responsible competition but an extremely irresponsible hegemonic behaviour which will only push China and the US into confrontation and the world into division,” he said.

Wang said the two countries should instead develop relations based on mutual respect and accommodate each other’s core interests and concerns.

“I would like to emphasise again that the US should not have the illusion of dealing with China from a position of strength,” he said.

02:50

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Wang’s comments came just days ahead of a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing, the highest-level visit by an American official to the mainland in five years, as Washington seeks to mend fraught ties.

Wang said the two countries would exchange views on bilateral relations and important international and regional issues of shared concern when Blinken visits. China, he said, would also clarify its position and concerns and “resolutely safeguard” its interests.

Wang added that both the US and China should take a “correct view” of each other’s domestic and foreign policies and find a way to get along as it would be in the interests of the two world powers and the international community.

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He stressed that the door for dialogue was open for China but “communication must address the concerns of both sides and have practical results”.

“To solve the problem, you cannot communicate while harming the interests of the other party. You can’t say one thing and do another,” he said.

Wang also urged Washington to stop interfering in China’s internal affairs and to create conditions to allow US-China ties to return to the track of stable development.

Wang’s comments were similar in tone to remarks made by Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang during his phone call with Blinken earlier this week, with Qin telling the American diplomat that the US should respect China’s sovereignty, security and development interests.

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Qin had also repeated Beijing’s position on what it calls its core concerns including Taiwan, which analysts suggested was to ensure that Blinken understood that China’s bottom line should not be tested.

Blinken is set to arrive in Beijing on Sunday.

A planned visit earlier this year was postponed when the US shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that crossed into American territory in February.