April 26 (UPI) — The U.S.-China relationship could either continue to stabilize or spiral downward, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi warned Friday as he met his U.S. counterpart, Antony Blinken, in Beijing as the diplomats seek to foster dialogue between their two countries amid conflicts.
Blinken was in Beijing for a second time in 12 months in an effort to improve relations with China after they fell to their lowest point in recent memory over the last few years.
Wang remarked during the joint press conference in Beijing on Friday that the U.S.-China relationship has begun to normalize, stating dialogue, cooperation and “the positive side of the relationship” have increased, but that negative factors remain hindrances.
“China’s legitimate development rights have been unreasonably suppressed and our core interests are facing challenges,” he said.
He said that their relationship was at a precipice, and that the world was waiting to see what will happen.
“This is a major question before our two countries,” he said.
“Should our two sides lead international cooperation against global issues and achieve win-win for all, or engage in rivalry and confrontation or even slide into conflict, which would be a lose-lose for all? The international community is waiting for our answer.”
He said China’s position has been consistent — that it wants mutual respect and peaceful coexistence with the United States — but that so, too, are its concerns, which are for Washington to not interfere in Beijing’s internal affairs, not to hold back its development “and not to step on China’s red lines on China’s sovereignty, security and development interests.”
With less threatening rhetoric, Blinken stressed the importance of their two countries continuing to improve communications and implementing the agreements their two presidents agreed to when they met in November.
He called their relationship “the most consequential … in the world” and that there is no substitute for face-to-face diplomacy, as it can move their relationship forward while making it possible to avoid misunderstandings and miscalculations where they have differences.
“That really is a shared responsibility that we have not only for our own people but for people around the world given the impact that the relationship between our countries has around the world,” Blinken said.
The meeting comes as the two countries seek to if not repair their relationship, then prevent it from worsening.
In August of 2022, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, which China responded to with fury and a military exercise nearby.
China views Taiwan as a rogue province that it has vowed to take back by force if necessary. The self-governing island has been a source of strain in the U.S.-China relationship, as the United States has deepened its ties with Taiwan, including militarily.
The visit resulted in Beijing ending high-level military-to-military communications with the United States, which were only repaired recently, with the heads of their militaries holding their first conversation since November 2022 10 days ago.
In February 2023, their relationship was further strained when Blinken canceled plans to visit Beijing after a Chinese balloon was spotted flying over the United States.
In the last year, the Biden administration has sought to improve communications with Beijing, with several high-ranking officials visiting to at the very least find areas where they could work together, such as climate change.
However, new issues in their relationship have arisen, and the Biden administration has threatened to impose sanctions on Chinese companies’ sale of dual-use materials and weapons components to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine and also pose a threat to Europe.
“Through Chinese support, Russia has reconstituted its defense industrial base, which has an impact not just on the battlefield in Ukraine but poses a larger threat, we believe, to broader European security,” said a senior State Department official speaking to reporters on April 19.
“So that’s deeply concerning to us.”
Blinken is expected to raise this issue during the trip.
Biden has also sought to level the economic playing field with China, promising earlier this month to triple tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum on accusations Beijing has been overproducing the metals and dumping them on the global market, negatively affecting U.S. steelmakers.
