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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was scheduled to arrive in China on Wednesday, marking a pivotal moment as the United States intensifies pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also endeavoring to navigate tensions with Beijing.
Blinken is set to engage with China’s top leadership on Friday in Beijing, where he will appeal for restraint amidst Taiwan’s inauguration of a new leader and address US concerns regarding Chinese trade practices, a crucial issue for President Joe Biden in an election year.
However, Blinken’s visit also aims to foster stability in relations, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies noticeably easing since his last visit in June. During that visit, he became the highest-ranking US official to visit China in five years, and it preceded a summit between the countries’ presidents in November.
At that summit in California, Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to various US requests, including restoring military contacts and cracking down on precursor chemicals for fentanyl, a potent painkiller fueling addiction in the United States. Blinken will commence his visit on Wednesday in Shanghai.
During his time in the city, he plans to meet with students and business leaders, highlighting the warm ties between the American and Chinese peoples—an outreach effort unprecedented until recently, given previous talk of a new Cold War between the two powers.
This engagement with China contrasts sharply with US efforts to isolate Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Despite initial satisfaction that Beijing has not directly supplied weapons to Russia, the US has accused China of providing crucial industrial material and technology to Moscow.
The Biden administration’s eagerness to engage China is evident, even as it presses European leaders to stand firm against Chinese support for Russia, believing that China desires stable ties with the West amidst domestic economic challenges.
Meanwhile, progress on the fentanyl issue, agreed upon during the November summit, is also on Blinken’s agenda. The US hopes to see further implementation of measures by China to address the illicit fentanyl supply chain.
However, sources of friction persist, including new US legislation requiring TikTok to be divested from its Chinese parent company ByteDance or face exclusion from the American market—a move indicative of broader tensions between the two nations.
As the US heads into election season, with Biden facing a potential rematch against former President Trump, China’s leaders remain cautious, prioritizing stability in the relationship amidst economic concerns and uncertainty about future US policy towards China.
Haseeb Abdullah
