Beijing/Washington: US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with President Xi Jinping on Monday. During the discussion, President Xi Jinping claimed there was no competition between China and the United States. At the same time, US State Secretary Blinken stated that the Chinese government has promised not to supply lethal weapons to Russia. Blinken’s visit to China is considered positive in the US political circle, yet the media has termed it unsuccessful. The media has said the two countries spoke about restoring ‘military contacts’ between the two countries, respecting each other’s interests but the US-China rift on the issue of Taiwan remained.
Moreover, Secretary of State Blinken has become the first US Secretary of State to visit China in the last five years. Secretary Blinken’s previous China tour got cancelled. Thus, the United States made immense efforts for his new tour. Earlier, China had clarified that even though China had approved Blinken’s visit, not much could be expected from it. Despite this, the United States assigned great importance to Secretary Blinken’s visit. Several senior officials and President Biden made statements on the issue.
However, it is being said that Secretary Blinken failed to get any positive signal or message from China during his 11-hour visit. China’s President Xi Jinping has indicated that the United States should respect China and not harm its rights and interests, and it has also declared that it is not competing with the United States. US analysts claimed this statement of Xi Jinping underlines China’s influence in Taiwan and the South China Sea.
Even before State Secretary Blinken’s visit, some analysts had criticized that the US Secretary of State was making a big mistake. This criticism of Blinken returning home empty-handed after the end of the tour proves correct. The news channel ‘CNN’ has claimed that the rift between the US and China has widened and become more dangerous during the discussion on the tour.
China has rejected the US appeal, reported the US top news agency. Besides, the United States requested to restore ‘military contacts’ to reduce the tension created with Taiwan and other states. However, Chinese officials have rejected it. There is also talk of Chinese officials adopting an aggressive stand on the issue of sanctions imposed by the United States.
Meanwhile, former US President Donald Trump adopted an aggressive policy by starting a trade war against China. However, the Biden administration has softened this policy and steadily moved to open relations with China. Last month, US intelligence agency CIA chief William Burns secretly visited China. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan also met senior Chinese officials in Europe.
