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Confrontation of superpowers: Biden invokes "thaw" between China and USA

2023-05-28T14:13:10.575Z

Highlights: China's Foreign Ministry spoke of a "hype" of an "obsession" of the United States and its allies. 20 times the governments of the G7 countries included the name "China" in the final declaration of this year's summit. Relations between the two countries were already at an all-time low when a suspected Chinese spy balloon was spotted over the US. China's new ambassador to Washington said relations with the U.S. were facing "serious difficulties and challenges" and "need to be improved"



In which direction are relations between the US and China moving? Joe Biden and Xi Jinping last November on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Bali. © Imago/UPI Photo

Joe Biden sees a "thaw" brewing between China and the US. But relations between the two superpowers remain tense.

Munich/Washington, D.C./Beijing – China's Foreign Ministry spoke of a "hype", the state newspaper China Daily of an "obsession" of the United States and its allies: 20 times the governments of the G7 countries included the name "China" in the final declaration of this year's summit, which ended last weekend in Hiroshima, Japan. Only Russia and Ukraine appear more frequently in the 40-page document.

The text invokes cooperation with the People's Republic when it comes to solving human issues such as climate change and dwindling biodiversity; otherwise, however, a much rougher tone prevails. These include human rights violations in Tibet and Xinjiang, unfair competitive conditions for foreign companies, Beijing's territorial claims in the South China Sea and, of course, the Taiwan issue, which – according to the G7 – can only be resolved peacefully.

In this respect, what US President Joe Biden had to say about his country's relations with China just one day after the publication of the Hiroshima Declaration was surprising. "I think we will soon see the beginning of a thaw," the 80-year-old claimed. However, Biden did not say how this would fit in with the sharp rhetoric of the G7 summit.

Posse about "stupid balloon" stood between China and the USA

In China, they don't want to believe these assurances. "If the U.S. just comes with empty words and tries to take advantage of trade relations with China while continuing to contain us, it would be pointless to improve relations," the state-run Global Times quoted Wu Xinbo, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, as saying.

Relations between the two countries were already at an all-time low when a suspected Chinese spy balloon was spotted over the US earlier this year and eventually shot down. Secretary of State Antony Blinken then canceled his planned visit to Beijing.

Now Joe Biden at least showed a willingness to forget the farce – in Hiroshima he spoke of a "stupid balloon" that had changed everything between the two states. Recently, people have also been talking to each other more and more. In Beijing, US Ambassador Nicholas Burns met with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang earlier this month, and China's top diplomat Wang Yi met with Jake Sullivan, Biden's national security adviser, in Vienna.

Earlier this week, Xie Feng, China's new ambassador to Washington, finally landed in the US. His predecessor, the current Foreign Minister Qin Gang, left the country at the end of last year – the ambassadorial post had not been vacant for four decades, writes the Global Times. Xie, 59, was previously deputy foreign minister responsible for relations with the United States and has already been stationed at the embassy in Washington twice.

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China's new ambassador to the U.S. sees "serious difficulties and challenges"

After arriving at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport on Tuesday, Xie said in polished English that relations with the U.S. were facing "serious difficulties and challenges" and "need to be improved." "We hope that the United States will go in the same direction with China," the new ambassador explained.

The U.S. State Department said on Wednesday that it was looking forward to working with Xie. However, they should not have forgotten what Xie had thrown at US Vice Secretary of State Wendy Sherman at a meeting in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin in the summer of 2021. Some people in the U.S. would consider China an "imaginary enemy," Xie complained at the time. In addition, the U.S. is "not in a position to lecture China on democracy and human rights," after all, it once treated its own indigenous people with shame. As China's state media reported at the time, Xie also gave his U.S. counterpart two documents to take home – a "list of U.S. offenses that must stop" and a "list of the most important individual cases that worry China."

At the moment, there are two issues in particular that make those responsible in Beijing blush when they think of Washington: China repeatedly claims that it is the close contacts between the US and the government in Taiwan that would exacerbate the conflict – not its own aggressive rhetoric and military exercises near the island, which Beijing considers a breakaway province.

Microchip sanctions cause tensions between Beijing and Washington

In addition, the conflict over reciprocal sanctions for microchips continues to escalate. Last year, U.S. President Biden ordered China to cut off access to sophisticated semiconductors that could also be used for military purposes. At the beginning of this week, Beijing banned the sale of some chips from the US company Micron Technology, whereupon a prominent US Republican in turn called for trade restrictions against a semiconductor manufacturer from China – the end is open.

According to the New York Times, Biden's advisers currently see two factions in China competing with each other – one that wants to restore economic ties with the United States, and one for which national security is more important than economic growth. The latter is stronger because it also includes state and party leader Xi Jinping.

In any case, Xi is convinced that the US wants to prevent the rise of China at all costs – that Washington is concerned with more than semiconductors or Taiwan; yes, that both issues are just a pretext to maintain American dominance in the world.

China analyst calls for "direct, private diplomacy" with Beijing

What is needed in this situation is "direct, private diplomacy with China," says analyst Ryan Hass of the US think tank Brookings Institution. In any case, the kind of public exchange of blows between the two sides, which has been seen again and again in recent years, is not helpful. "This limits America's ability to influence the way China pursues its interests, undermines the trust of American allies, and poisons the personal relationships between those involved," Hass said.

In addition, the US must take seriously Xi Jinping's ambitions to become a "global leader and peacemaker". Specifically, Hass proposes, for example, not simply dismissing China's so far unsuccessful attempts at mediation in the Ukraine war as a smokescreen – but looking for places where Beijing can actually make a difference. "Washington could, for example, get Beijing to take the lead in pushing Russia to keep the grain routes through the Black Sea open in the interest of global food security."

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2023-05-28

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