Beijing/Washington, (EFE) the current deterioration of relations.
Blinken will be the highest-ranking US official to visit China since the president of the North American country, Joe Biden, began his term in 2021, but the official media of the Asian country point out the low expectations that exist regarding the trip of the Secretary of State.
“Although neither party expects too much from the trip, the visit is an opportunity to prevent the bilateral relationship from deteriorating further and from being bad to very bad,” said Lü Xiang, a researcher from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, quoted by the local newspaper Global Times.
Lü was skeptical about the true intentions of the United States. “It is not clear if the United States is sincere when it says that it wants to improve ties,” said the expert, who nevertheless declared that, judging by recent statements by officials Americans, the North American country “has realized the danger that the ties between the two powers face and the urgency of controlling the risk that this entails.”
“Economic cooperation, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the Taiwan question and the preparation of the following high-level meetings will be the elements that will have priority during Blinken’s visit,” the associate dean of the School of Studies predicted to the newspaper. International Renmin University, Jin Canrong.
Good sign, amid nuclear tension over Ukraine
Along the same lines, Juan Luis Manfredi, head of the Prince of Asturias Chair at Georgetown University, in Washington, told EFE that “expectations must be lowered, but it is a good sign that there is an interest in strengthening diplomatic ties ”.
Before leaving, Blinken said at a press conference on Friday that his goal is to establish “stable communication channels” between the US and China to avoid “misunderstandings” between the two powers that could lead to a conflict.
The State Department has detailed that Blinken also wants to put on the table the situation in Taiwan, the war in Ukraine, fentanyl trafficking and the release of US prisoners in China.
It will be the first visit by a senior US official since the then-Speaker of the House of Representatives, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, traveled to Taiwan, considered by China as a rebel province, in August last year.
China interpreted this as a provocation and responded with batteries of sanctions, the cancellation of the dialogue with the US on matters such as defense and the climate crisis, and military maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait of an intensity unprecedented in years and which have since become in regulars.
Another episode of tension took place last February when the US denounced the presence of an alleged Chinese spy balloon flying over its territory, something that China denied but that Blinken then used as a pretext to postpone his expected trip to the Asian country.
Biden himself declared the balloon crisis over this Saturday by assuring that the device was not sent “intentionally”.
Biden announces a meeting with Xi Jinping
The president also said that he hopes to meet in the coming months with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, to address the points of friction between the two powers.
The situation in the Taiwan Strait is just one of the long list of disagreements between the two powers, including economic and trade tensions, about which some Chinese experts are optimistic.
“The trip is an opportunity for both countries to break the existing blockade in their economic relations and communicate their demands to the other party,” said Li Changan, a professor at the University of Economics and International Business.
“China has an irreplaceable position in industrial supply chains and, therefore, Washington has to cooperate with Beijing in many sectors,” said Li, who also stated that “maintaining mutual contact is a positive sign of communication and a good thing for both parties”.
For Manfredi, it is clear that the United States “wants to alleviate the conflict but also to mark territory so that China cannot develop.”
The positive, added the expert, is that both powers know that an open conflict “is not a good idea” for anyone