How can China believe US really wants better relations when its actions don’t match its words?

Blinken’s trip was followed by Biden’s insults, the promising Bali summit was followed by further China containment measures. Clearly, Washington has yet to show Beijing it is sincere in its efforts

Wei Wei

Published: 1:00am, 27 Jun 2023

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Every Chinese is taught from a young age, through the country’s history and culture, to be a person of integrity, to walk the talk, and treat others with respect. Call me naive, but I also believe integrity should be the basic principle for interactions between countries. However, given the behaviour of the US, the most powerful country in the world, I’m starting to have doubts.

Last week, US President Joe Biden called President Xi Jinping a “dictator” and dismissed China as a country with “real economic difficulties”, right after he had sent US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing to seek rapprochement. The Chinese embassy in Washington said that after this “political provocation”, “people cannot help but question the sincerity of the US side”.

Three days before Biden’s disparaging remarks, Xi, while meeting Blinken, made clear China’s integrity in its relations with the US, and demanded the same. “China respects the interests of the United States and does not seek to challenge or displace the United States”, he said, adding that “the United States must also respect China and not harm China’s legitimate rights and interests”.

Clearly, Beijing already felt the US had treated it with little or no respect and had not taken China’s concerns and interests into consideration. Bilateral relations are now widely seen to be at their lowest level since the establishment of diplomatic ties, and trapped in a downward spiral.

Meanwhile, the consensus in Washington on a tough China policy continues to strengthen. A bipartisan majority in Congress has worked closely with the Biden administration to devise a policy framework aimed at the all-round containment of China’s influence.

Since the 118th US Congress began in January, it has put forward numerous China-related proposals including on trade, human rights, finance, energy, security, public health, science and technology, agriculture, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet.

China sees this as a serious miscalculation. The US misperception that China is its biggest threat and the “most consequential geopolitical challenge” is the cause of the deadlock in China-US relations.

Any positive signals from Blinken’s visit may have been jeopardised by Biden’s insults. This includes an agreement to effectively manage and control differences, promote dialogue and maintain high-level exchanges.

Both sides also agreed to continue consultations on the guiding principles of China-US relations, resolve issues through the joint working groups, encourage more cultural and educational exchanges, increase passenger flights between the two countries, and welcome more students, scholars and businesspeople.

Blinken’s visit was seen as having halted the downward spiral in relations, but after Biden’s comments, how relations will now improve is anyone’s guess; as far as Beijing is concerned, Uncle Sam simply fails to consistently practise what he preaches.

02:49

‘China will not challenge or replace the US’, Xi tells Blinken at crucial meeting

There is a precedent. Last November in Bali, Xi and Biden agreed to work out the guiding principles of Sino-US relations. Xi made clear the red lines on issues including Taiwan, democracy and human rights, China’s political system, and science and technology. But, since then, US actions to counter China have seriously undermined that consensus.

Take Taiwan, for example. The US claims it does not support Taiwan’s independence – a stand Blinken was at pains to reinforce in Beijing – yet it remains a major arms supplier to the island.

It has long maintained a policy of what it calls strategic ambiguity, supplying weapons to Taiwan and allowing Tsai Ing-wen to “transit” in America and meet US officials, while sailing US warships through the Taiwan Strait in the name of freedom of navigation and promising to maintain peace and stability across the strait.

02:35

US President Biden defends calling Chinese leader Xi Jinping a ‘dictator’

The self-contradiction in America’s China policy is not limited to Taiwan. The US has repeatedly stressed the importance of high-level communications and in particular called for dialogue between the two countries’ militaries. Yet, it does not seem to think that Beijing’s rebuffs have anything to do with keeping China’s defence minister on its sanctions list or because its all-round containment of China has not stopped.

China has learned its lesson from dealing with the US over the past decades. Beijing welcomes sincere dialogue and communication. But any attempt to use these as a tool for coercion or a stage for a political performance is unacceptable.

China is amenable to US efforts to stabilise bilateral relations – but it cannot compromise on its principles and interests. The US cannot talk about stability while doing things that shake the foundation of Sino-US relations. The US should follow through on its commitments and show its sincerity through concrete action, instead of saying one thing and doing another.

03:45

China, US offer competing security visions for Asia-Pacific at security forum

Blinken’s visit was described across Western media – but mostly in the US – as a “high stakes” trip. High stakes implies a gamble, and serious risks if there is no success. Such a description again exposes the binary thinking of the US on China, the American zero-sum mindset. Blinken arrived in Beijing on a sunny day with clear blue skies – yet, to some, looking through a Western media lens, it was all grey and gloomy. The hostility towards China never seems to stop.

There are those who believe Blinken’s visit has kept alive the hope that China-US relations can return to normal. I have my doubts – though a still-naive part of me hopes the US will learn to match its deeds to its words.

Wei Wei is the former chief correspondent of the Eurasian bureau based in Moscow of China Central Television