The Importance of Secretary Blinken’s Visit to China Amidst Sino-American Relations Tensions

The importance of this news in the context of Sino-American relations is well illustrated by this little reminder Washington Post.

“This trip will mark Antony Blinken’s first visit to China as Secretary of State, notes the media of the American capital, but also the first visit by a US Secretary of State to China in five years. A lapse of time that illustrates a significant lack of contact between the upper echelons of the two countries, which American officials are trying to fill.

According to South China Morning Post, Blinken will travel to Beijing on Sunday and Monday. A visit that is of particular importance because of the tensions that have characterized Sino-American relations in recent months, said the media, which summarized the latest events.

“Bilateral relations worsened in August 2022, when Nancy Pelosi, then Speaker of the House of Representatives, met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei, recalls the Hong Kong daily. This visit angered Beijing, which saw it as a violation of its sovereignty. Tensions escalated in April of this year when new Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy met with Tsai in California.

Avoid annoying topics

During this week’s trip, indicates for his part the Washington Post, “Blinken plans to meet with Foreign Minister Qin Gang and potentially President Xi Jinping as part of a months-long effort to reopen lines of communication between the world’s two largest economies, whose relations have rarely been so bad”.

Showing realism, the staff of the Secretary of State made it known that significant progress should not be expected on the files which cause the greatest tensions between the two countries, such as the war in Ukraine, the human rights and, of course, the fate of Taiwan.

Avert the specter of a military confrontation

However, lately, “the Biden administration has made it clear that it wants to restore military-to-military channels of communication, which US officials say are essential to prevent an accident between ships or planes from escalating into a military confrontation”.

As a reminder, in February, the American president, Joe Biden, had given the order to shoot down a so-called Chinese “spy balloon” which had been drifting for several days in the American sky, angering Beijing. The imbroglio around this balloon had also pushed Blinken to postpone a visit which was finally planned in China. This trip will finally take place this week.