Xi’s welcoming of Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a private meeting Monday in Beijing signals the seriousness with which China is open to repairing ties.
While Xi rejected Blinken’s request to set up a direct military-to-military hotline that would serve to quickly address confrontations, the Chinese leader greenlighted his most senior deputies to schedule in-person talks in Washington.
In remarks ahead of the meeting with Blinken, Xi said he is intent on getting back to the “common understandings” reached with Biden when the two met last year in Bali, Indonesia, and he called for “stabilizing China-U.S. relations.”
Biden has looked at dealing with Xi personally to manage the U.S. relationship with China as one of the most consequential challenges of his presidency and political legacy — one that has already become a key point of attack from Republicans leading up to the 2024 election.
GOP lawmakers have issued a flurry of criticisms against Biden in response to reports the administration has held back on sanctions against China in an effort to improve ties. They’ve also called out the earlier travel of senior State Department officials to Beijing on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre on June 4.
Biden has framed his strategy toward China as investing in the U.S. and repairing ties with allies to better challenge Beijing — economically, diplomatically, technologically and militarily.
At the same time, Biden has said China’s cooperation is necessary to confront existential threats of climate change, prevent the next pandemic and improve the global economy.
It’s a fraught balance where Beijing has used America’s desire for cooperation as leverage for its priorities, cutting off communication channels in retaliation for U.S. support for Taiwan, casting Washington as the aggressor in response to sanctions on human rights abuses and civil oppression.
Despite welcoming the secretary of State, Xi still held a hard line Monday, rejecting Blinken’s request to set up a direct hotline that would serve to quickly address tensions — with close calls between jets and warships in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait in recent weeks underscoring the danger.
Read the full report at TheHill.com.
