Antony Blinken says he told Beijing officials that US does not seek to ‘contain’ China
- US secretary of state recounts his recent trip during a speech to Council on Foreign Relations in New York
- Yet discussing US export restrictions on China, he asks, ‘how is it in our interest to allow them to get technology that they may turn around and use against us?’
The perception that the US intends to “contain” China “economically and globally” was a “lengthy part of the discussions” when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met this month with his Chinese counterparts in Beijing, he said on Wednesday.
Yet holding back the world’s second-largest economy was counter to US interests, Blinken said at an event in New York by the Council on Foreign Relations, adding that he told his hosts in Beijing that “if you actually look at what’s happening, and what’s happened, the facts belie that assertion”.
Blinken’s remarks in a wide-ranging speech on US foreign policy came as Washington considers another round of restrictions on China’s access to US semiconductor technology. In October, the US banned export of certain cutting-edge chips technology to China.
On Tuesday, Representative Mike Gallagher, chairman of the House select committee on China, urged Blinken not to renew a bilateral science and technology collaboration agreement set to expire in August.
Noting that China remains a leading US trading partner and a key destination for US business investment, Blinken described export controls and sanctions on Chinese individuals and companies as “very targeted”.