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China warns Blinken over deteriorating ties in talks
Blinken, paying his second visit to the rival country in less than a year, voiced hope for progress but said he would directly raise areas of difference, which are expected to include Russia, Taiwan and trade.
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) attends a meeting with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on April 26, 2024. (AFP/Mark Schiefelbein)
C
hina on Friday urged US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to address rising disagreements or risk a "downward spiral" between the two powers as talks opened in Beijing.
Blinken, paying his second visit to the rival country in less than a year, voiced hope for progress but said he would directly raise areas of difference, which are expected to include Russia, Taiwan and trade.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, receiving Blinken at the Diaoyutai state guesthouse in the capital's ancient gardens, said relations between the world's two largest economies were "beginning to stabilise" after leaders Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met at a November summit.
"But at the same time, the negative factors in the relationship are still increasing and building," Wang said.
"The relationship is facing all kinds of disruptions. China's legitimate development rights have been unreasonably suppressed and our core interests are facing challenges," he said.
"Should China and the United States keep in the right direction of moving forward with stability, or return to a downward spiral?
"This is a major question before our two countries and tests our sincerity and ability."
Blinken's aides previously said he would address a range of concerns including China's support for Russia, which has rapidly rebuilt its military base two years into its invasion of Ukraine.
As he opened the meeting with Wang, Blinken said he would be "very clear, very direct", but added: "I hope we make some progress on the issues our presidents agreed" on.
The two countries should be as "clear as possible about the areas where we have differences -- at the very least to avoid misunderstandings, to avoid miscalculations," Blinken said.
"That really is a shared responsibility that we have not only for our own people, but for people around the world."
US State Department officials signalled ahead of the sessions that China's support for Russia would feature strongly, saying that Washington is prepared to act against Chinese companies that have been helping retool and resupply Russia's defence industry.
They have said that such assistance risks hurting the broader China-US relationship, even as ties stabilise after being hit by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan in 2022 and the U.S. downing of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon in February 2023.
Despite increasing high-level exchanges and working groups tackling issues such as enhanced military communication and global trade, tensions remain.
Taiwan and the disputed South China Sea remain flashpoints, while the US is eager to see more progress on the curbing of China's supply of the chemicals to used to make fentanyl.
Chinese officials and state media have cast doubt over the extent of possible progress on several fronts, with a China Daily editorial saying that both sides "have been largely talking past each other".
"On the conflict in Ukraine, the world can see it clearly that the Ukraine issue is not an issue between China and the US; and the US side should not turn it into one," it said.
Blinken is likely to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping today before he returns to Washington in the evening, although neither side has yet confirmed a meeting.
He is also meeting China's minister of public security, Wang Xiaohong.
