Prof. ST Hsieh
Director, US-China Energy Industry Forum
626-376-7460
October 27, 2023
Mr. Wang Yi is visiting the US for the first time during Biden’s Administration, whether long or short, it is a sign that the US-China Relation is maturing. Ever since former President Trump took charge in 2016, the global politics have been disrupted and the US-China relation went downhill. A clear sign has been that the US and China closed a Consulate General Office each and official meetings became rare. Of course, the COVID19 pandemic caused a severe lock down was another factor.
Now the US-China relationship is normalizing, because both the US and China are facing a dangerous world with two regional wars. Of course, the US and China have very different positions toward these war events. But it is clear that if any war gets out of control, the US will be responsible for closing and restructuring. However, the global economy will also be dragged down and impact China significantly. It is essential that the US and China jointly focus on managing these global crises. At least the US and China have to agree not to intentionally opposing each other’s peace effort.
Of course, the US and China have fundamental disagreements on many basic issues including governance, global standing, etc. But these issues do not pose any imminent stress to global stability. US and China should leadership to make peace first, and the time is right now.
Readout of President Joe Biden’s Meeting with People’s Republic of China Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission and Foreign Minister Wang Yi
President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. met today with the People’s Republic of China Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
The President emphasized that both the United States and China need to manage competition in the relationship responsibly and maintain open lines of communication. He underscored that the United States and China must work together to address global challenges.
President Biden expressed his condolences on the passing of former Premier Li Keqiang.
Biden meets Wang as US-China gear up towards expected leaders summit
Humeyra Pamuk and Michael Martina
Updated Fri, October 27, 2023 at 1:09 PM PDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden met China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday, holding an hour of talks that the White House characterized as a “good opportunity” in keeping lines of communication open between the two geopolitical rivals.
Wang earlier held a second day of meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken as the two countries seek to manage differences while laying groundwork for an expected summit between Biden and his counterpart Xi Jinping in November.
Biden still hopes to see Xi in the near future, White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters, but could not say whether an agreement was struck for the two presidents to meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit next month in San Francisco.
China has yet to announce whether Xi will attend.
“The president has said that he fully expects to meet again with President Xi. These are two guys that have a long-standing relationship and we’re confident that that’s going to happen,” Kirby said.
“In his view, this was a positive development and a good opportunity to keep the conversation going,” Kirby said of Biden’s meeting with Wang, which Blinken and U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan also attended.
Wang arrived at the State Department late on Thursday – the first visit by a Chinese foreign minister to Washington during the Biden administration – and held a meeting with Blinken followed by a dinner. Sullivan was due to meet Wang separately on Friday afternoon.
On Thursday, Wang told Blinken that the two countries have disagreements and need “in-depth” and “comprehensive” dialogue to reduce misunderstandings and stabilize ties. “Not only should we resume dialogue, the dialogue should be in-depth and comprehensive,” Wang said.
Wang’s three-day visit follows a flurry of bilateral diplomatic engagements in recent months, largely at U.S. request, aimed at salvaging what were rapidly deteriorating ties early in the year following the U.S. downing of an alleged Chinese spy balloon.
The U.S. sought to prevent relations, also severely strained by intense economic competition and disagreements on a host of issues – including trade, Taiwan, human rights and the South China Sea – from veering into conflict.
But some in Washington have questioned whether a slate of mostly unreciprocated U.S. Cabinet-level official visits to Beijing over the past six months, including by Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, played into Beijing’s hand.
The Israel-Hamas conflict has added a fresh dynamic to the testy relationship between the superpowers, and Washington is hoping Beijing can use its influence with Iran to prevent an escalation into a wider war in the Middle East.
Kirby said events in the Middle East were on the agenda in talks with Wang. He said the U.S. also raised concerns about the South China Sea, disputed waters where China and the Philippines have had several high-profile confrontations. Beijing says Washington has no right to get involved.
However, while both Beijing and Washington have spoken about looking for areas where they can work together, and Xi said on Wednesday that China was willing to cooperate on global challenges, experts expect minimal progress.
“Wang Yi’s long visit to Washington and other atmospherics all point to the high likelihood that Xi will attend APEC and meet with Biden,” said Scott Kennedy, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Michael Martina and Steve Holland; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
US President Joe Biden and Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese walk along the colonnade of the White House (Brendan SMIALOWSKI)
China’s top diplomat voiced hope Thursday for more stable relations with the United States after months of turbulence as he paid a rare trip to Washington to prepare a potential visit by President Xi Jinping.
President Joe Biden has invited Xi to San Francisco next month to participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, but he has also stood firm on China in the run-up, keeping up a stream of targeted sanctions and staunchly backing US allies in disputes with Beijing.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi began by meeting Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who told his guest that he looked forward to “constructive conversations” that included a closed-door dinner.
Wang told Blinken, who paid a visit to Beijing in June, that China wanted to “reduce misunderstanding.”
China seeks to “expand common ground and pursue cooperation that will benefit both sides so that we can stabilize US-China relations and return them to the track of healthy, stable and sustainable development,” Wang said.
Acknowledging that differences will still come up, Wang said that China would respond “calmly, because we are of the view that what is right and what is wrong is not determined by who has the stronger arm or the louder voice.”
On Friday, Wang will speak at the White House with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. No meeting has been announced with Biden, but an encounter is widely expected after Xi received Blinken in Beijing.
US officials have repeatedly spoken of creating “guardrails” with China to prevent worst-case scenarios and have sought, without success, to restore contact between the two militaries.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Blinken’s meeting with Wang was part of efforts to “maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage US-China relations,” but added: “The United States will continue to stand up for our interests and values and those of our allies and partners.”
Biden on Wednesday warned China of US treaty obligations to the Philippines, which said that Chinese vessels deliberately hit Manila’s boats in dispute-rife waters — an account contested by Beijing.
Speaking alongside Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Biden vowed to compete with China in “every way according to the international rules — economically, politically, in other ways. But I’m not looking for conflict.”
Tensions have been particularly high over Taiwan, the self-ruling democracy claimed by Beijing which over the past year has launched major military exercises in response to actions by US lawmakers.
China’s defense ministry on Thursday accused Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party of pushing the island toward a “dangerous situation of war.”
– What are ‘stable’ ties? –
Robert Daly, director of the Wilson Center’s Kissinger Institute on China and the United States, said Wang was likely seeking assurances that the Biden administration will not “embarrass” Xi if he comes to San Francisco, either through harsh new policies or public comments.
“They would like to have a smooth glide path and then a smooth exit from the meeting,” he said.
Daly said the two powers had very different views on what “stable” ties meant, with the United States having no intention of changing course from viewing China as a threat and applying pressure.
“By stabilization, we mean that we want to be able to do that without greatly increasing the chance of conflict,” Daly said.
“The Chinese view is that stabilization would mean America ceasing this relentless stream of provocations and insults such that China is free to focus on its extremely weak domestic economy,” he said.
The Biden administration in recent months has tightened export curbs on chips to China, stepped up military support for Taiwan and issued sanctions targeting individual Chinese over support for Iran’s drone program and over production of chemicals that make fentanyl, the painkiller behind an addiction epidemic in the United States.
The United States and China have also traded barbs over the conflict in the Middle East, where Biden has been Israel’s foremost ally.
The diplomacy with China comes as the United States enters an election season in which Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump, who is seeking to return to the White House, has made hawkish criticism of Beijing a signature policy.