Chinanews.com, June 6 (Chen Caixia, Yuan Jiabei) On the morning of June 18, 2023, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Beijing to begin a two-day visit to China, he is the highest-ranking official of the Biden administration to visit China, and the first US Secretary of State to visit China since 6.

In mid-January 2023, the United States announced Blinken's visit to China. However, on February 1, a senior US State Department official said that Blinken decided to postpone his visit to China due to the incident of "China's unmanned airship entering US airspace." US media believe that Blinken's visit to China shows that the United States hopes to resume high-level communication with China "under tension".

Infographic: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Recently, "exchange", "contact" and "communication" have once again become high-frequency words in Sino-US relations, and the two sides maintain the tone of communication and also release important signals. Liu Weidong, a researcher at the Institute of American Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out that the current is a "window period" for Sino-US relations to restore stability, and the two sides need to maintain relative stability in relations.

A new round of high-level interaction between China and the United States

Contacts have increased since May

In the past six months, especially in the past two months, a new round of high-level interaction between the two countries has attracted attention.

In November 2022, Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden met in Bali and reached an important consensus, and the two heads of state agreed that the diplomatic teams of the two sides would maintain strategic communication and conduct regular consultations.

On February 2023, 2, Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission, held informal contacts with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the request of the U.S. during the Munich Security Conference.

On March 3, Wang Yi met with Orens, chairman of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, in Beijing. Orlens highly appreciates China's strong signal of deepening reform and opening up. He said that "decoupling and breaking the chain" is not beneficial to the United States and China, nor to the world, and will continue to play a positive role in enhancing mutual understanding between the United States and China.

In April, a number of US officials, including Blinken and US National Security Adviser Sullivan, expressed their hope for resuming dialogue with China, saying that they would not seek "decoupling" from China or conflict between the two countries.

Since May, the frequency of high-level interaction between China and the United States has increased significantly.

On May 5, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang met with U.S. Ambassador to China Burns in Beijing.

On May 5-10, Wang Yi and Sullivan met in Vienna, Austria. The two sides had frank, in-depth, substantive and constructive discussions on promoting China-US relations to remove obstacles, stop declines and stabilize.

In late May, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao went to the United States to attend the APEC ministerial meeting, during which he held talks with US Commerce Secretary Raimondo and Commerce Representative Dai Qi.

On June 6, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu and Director General of the US Department of Foreign Affairs Yang Tao met and held talks with visiting Assistant Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific Affairs Conda and Senior Director for China Affairs of the White House National Security Council Sarah Berlan.

The Chinese side said that the two sides had frank, constructive and fruitful communication. The U.S. side also said that the content of the talks was a "frank and fruitful discussion." The Hill newspaper called it "very rare" for two senior U.S. diplomats to meet face-to-face in Beijing on U.S.-China relations.

On June 6, Qin Gang spoke with Blinken on the phone as promised. This is the latest high-level contact between China and the United States recently.

Blinken visits China

What signals are released?

According to Reuters recently, Assistant Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs for East Asia and the Pacific Daniel Kritenbrink said that Blinken's trip is expected to hold a series of talks with senior Chinese officials, which may cover issues such as the Taiwan and Ukraine crises, and the two sides "will also discuss common concerns, global and regional affairs, and potential cooperation to jointly address transnational challenges."

Klittenbrink said Blinken's main goal is to have "frank, direct and constructive" discussions with China and "manage the competitive relationship [between China and the United States] in the most responsible way possible." ”

U.S. officials expect Blinken's visit to pave the way for more bilateral talks between China and the United States, including a possible trip to China by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Raimondo in the coming months.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on June 6 that during Blinken's visit to China, the two sides will exchange views on Sino-US relations and important international and regional issues of common concern, and China will clarify its position and concerns on Sino-US relations and resolutely safeguard its own interests.

CNN said that after a year of "tension" in Sino-US relations, the two countries are "working to re-establish normal relations." Other U.S. officials have stressed the need to establish open channels of communication to prevent the "competitive" relationship between China and the United States from turning into conflict.

At present, why does the US want to resume exchanges with China as soon as possible? Liu Weidong, a researcher at the Institute of American Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out that first, the Biden administration hopes to stabilize the current Sino-US relations, which is a "window period" for Sino-US relations to return to stability because there is no general election in the United States in 2023.

Second, as much cooperation as possible between China and the United States can help the Biden administration improve its image and status in the United States, and help the two sides cooperate and make some progress on bilateral trade, climate change and other issues, thereby providing favorable chips for Biden's re-election in 2024.

Singapore's State Counsellor and Coordinating Minister for Social Policy Mr Shang Daatman said on June 6 that the end result of the U.S.-China competition is unlikely to be "one system beating another." Two States must coexist, and in a manner that is in the interests of their peoples. (End)