US Sec. of State Blinken Meets With PRC Diplomats, Xi

Facts

• In a highly-publicized trip to Beijing, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken began two days of talks with senior Chinese officials on Sunday. The dialogue comes during a time of soaring geopolitical tensions.¹
• Blinken became the Biden admin.’s highest-ranking official to visit the PRC. He will also visit London during the same trip.²
• Blinken spoke with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang for nearly 8 hours on Sunday. The two diplomats discussed a range of issues — emphasizing "the importance of diplomacy and maintaining open channels of communication across the full range of issues to reduce the risk of misperception and miscalculation," per the US Dept. of State.³
• On Monday, Blinken met with Wang Yi, director of the Chinese Communist Party's Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission, who ranks above Foreign Minister Qin Gang in the party hierarchy.³
• Wang blamed the strained relationships between the two countries solely on the US and stressed that Taiwan was China's "core interest." He made clear that there was "no room" for negotiation regarding Taiwan, while Blinken's approach was conciliatory.⁴
• Blinken's visit to China was concluded with a meeting on Monday between him and President Xi Jinping. Both Xi and Biden said they had had candid and in-depth discussions.⁵

Sources: ¹CNN, ²Al Jazeera (a), ³The Japan Times, ⁴Al Jazeera (b), and ⁵BBC News.

Narratives

• Anti-China narrative, as provided by Vox. Blinken's visit to Beijing is welcomed by both the US and China, as the risk of open conflict in the South China Sea between Chinese and US military forces is something nobody wants. However, at the end of the day, Beijing has more to lose than Washington from a breakdown in bilateral relations. It may be possible to contain PRC aggression through increased sanctions and dialogue — cooling tensions is in order.
• Pro-China narrative, as provided by Global Times. Blinken's visit to Beijing is a much-welcome sign of increased communication between the PRC and the US amid all-time low relations. While many observers do not expect a breakthrough in the relationship, both sides are committed to continuing to meet and talk. Beijing wants to build a stable, predictable, and constructive relationship with the US and expects Washington will uphold an objective and rational understanding of Beijing, rather than a hegemonic approach.

Predictions