U.S. Secretary of State Blinken visited China from April 24 to 26. This is part of China and the United States' efforts to implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state at the San Francisco meeting, maintain dialogue, manage differences, promote cooperation, and strengthen coordination on international affairs. China welcomed the visit and proposed five major goals: establishing correct understanding, strengthening dialogue, effectively managing differences, promoting mutually beneficial cooperation, and jointly shouldering the responsibilities of major powers. It can be said that the arrangement of Blinken's visit continues the positive momentum of high-level interactions between China and the United States, indicating that maintaining the overall stability of Sino-US relations through communication is still the consensus of both parties. However, turning this arrangement into an opportunity for continued improvement of Sino-US relations still requires both sides to jointly seize and work toward each other.
Since the beginning of this year, China and the United States have maintained intensive interactions and released positive signals, which are in line with the interests and expectations of the people of both countries and the world. Expectations for the improvement of Sino-US relations have been enhanced. At the beginning of the year, President Xi Jinping exchanged congratulatory letters with President Biden on the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States. On March 27, he met collectively with representatives of the U.S. business community and strategic academia, and on April 2, he had a phone call with President Biden by appointment. Under the guidance of heads of state diplomacy, since the San Francisco meeting, China and the United States have carried out a series of important contacts at all levels and in various fields. The heads of the two sides’ diplomatic and security, economic and trade finance, climate change, law enforcement, agriculture, culture and other departments have visited, met, and made phone calls. The two militaries have resumed communication and dialogue. More than 20 institutional consultations established or restarted at the San Francisco meeting continue to operate. U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen recently visited China and stressed that she would not seek "decoupling" from China and called on both sides to maintain communication. Sun Yun, director of the China Program at the Stimson Center in the United States, believes that high-level interactions between China and the United States "send a message of stability to the rest of the world and also mark the pursuit of stability by both parties." Joseph Nye, a famous American scholar, believes that high-level contacts are important, and “it is also helpful to find some issues that can prove to public opinion that the two countries can benefit from cooperation.”
However, we have noticed that the "two-sidedness" of the United States in its relations with China has not weakened. While China-U.S. relations have stabilized, the U.S. is still stubbornly advancing its strategy to contain China. This manifests itself in the U.S. adhering to a wrong understanding of China, constantly innovating its methods of suppressing China, and frequently attacking China on issues involving the South China Sea, Xinjiang, economics, trade, science and technology, etc. Get angry. From the release of a human rights report by the U.S. State Department to smear human rights in China's Xinjiang to the meeting between leaders of the U.S., Japan and the Philippines to reach a number of measures against China, from launching Section 301 investigations into multiple Chinese industries to hyping up the so-called "China's overcapacity theory" to curb and suppress China's industrial development, the recent Negative factors in the relations between the two countries are still very prominent. Just before Blinken’s visit to China, some US media were still smearing China’s normal economic and trade cooperation with Russia, highlighting the “pressure” purpose of Blinken’s visit to China, including warning China not to “help Russia” and so on, trying to create an image before the visit. An aggressive momentum, this kind of communication mentality that lacks respect and sincerity will not help create a communication atmosphere, and will only have a negative impact on the communication effect. Of course, in every election year, the hawkish character of the United States' China policy becomes more obvious, and it is not surprising that China-related issues are frequently hyped. What needs to be made clear is that China is willing to communicate and cooperate with the United States in bilateral and multilateral fields on the basis of mutual respect, equality and reciprocity. However, the United States cannot communicate and discuss cooperation while interfering in China's internal affairs and harming China's interests. If we want cooperation, we cannot just focus on differences, but must keep in mind the common interests of both parties; if we want dialogue, we cannot use a tone of "warning" or "threat". Dealing with China "from a position of strength" simply does not work. Dialogue and cooperation must be mutually respectful and two-way reciprocity. It is impossible to achieve cooperation by only focusing on one's own demands and ignoring the concerns of the other party. The United States has talked about many of Blinken's demands for this visit. The United States should also lower its profile, show sincerity, and pay attention to China's goals for this visit.
The bottom line and red line of China's exchanges with the United States are clear and clear, and its policies have a high degree of continuity and stability. China welcomes Blinken's visit to China and is willing to stabilize and improve Sino-US relations through dialogue. However, the Chinese value reciprocity and dialogue must be based on mutual respect and equality. The United States must realize that it cannot communicate for the sake of communication, and cannot say one thing and do another. President Biden has repeatedly reiterated that the United States does not seek to engage in a "new Cold War," does not seek to change China's system, does not seek to contain China's development, does not seek to oppose China by strengthening alliances, does not support "Taiwan independence," has no intention of conflict with China, and has no intention of conflict with China. Seeking "decoupling" from China, etc. What the United States needs to do is to implement President Biden's above-mentioned commitments and work with China to turn the "San Francisco Vision" into a "reality" instead of continuing to contain, contain and suppress China in the name of "competition."
