This is the second part of US secretary of state Antony Blinken's visit to China where he met with president Xi Jinping, foreign minister Qin Gang and China’s top diplomat Wang Yi and other officials.
Part #1 HERE covering presenters from Tsinghua, Nanjing and Fudan.
Name: Shao Yuqun (邵育群)
Year of birth: 1975 (age: 47/48)
Position: Director of the Institute for Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Studies and researcher at the Centre for American Studies, Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS).
Previously: Director of SIIS’s Centre for American Studies.
Research focus: US foreign policy, US-China relations and Taiwan.
Education: BA and MA East China Normal University; PhD Fudan University (2003).
Source: SIIS (20.06.2023 in Chinese) and China-US Focus (21.06.2023 in English)
“While the outcomes of Blinken's visit to China exceeded expectations, leading to temporary bilateral tension easing, U.S. strategic goals, policies, and approach to China are still characterized by a zero-sum mentality. This mindset is expected to continue causing various disturbances in China-U.S. relations.”
“Due to increasing internal and external pressures, the Biden administration felt compelled to proceed with Blinken's visit as soon as possible.”
“Internally, as the curtain rises on the 2024 U.S. presidential election, the Biden administration must show its voters that it can uphold stability in U.S.-China relations, even while maintaining a tough stance on China, to ward off the strong criticism from the Republican Party.”
“Externally, it needs to assuage its Asia-Pacific and European allies, reassuring them that its competitive strategy with China will not trigger a major conflict or involve its allies in such disputes.”
“While the outcomes of Blinken's visit to China exceeded expectations, leading to temporary bilateral tension easing, U.S. strategic goals, policies, and approach to China are still characterized by a zero-sum mentality. This mindset is expected to continue causing various disturbances in China-U.S. relations.”
“Throughout the course of the Blinken two-day visit, China reaffirmed its stance on Taiwan, underscoring that the Taiwan question is at the heart of its core interests, constitutes the most critical element in China-U.S. relations, and represents the highest risk.”
“In terms of policy, the U.S. administration is expected to exhibit some moderation on the Taiwan question to facilitate stability in China-U.S. relations. Nevertheless, the U.S. Congress, especially its Republican members, are pushing a series of provocative ‘pro-Taiwan’ bills that could severely damage China-U.S. relations. Additionally, with Washington's security concerns overshadowing economic considerations and a tendency to overemphasize ‘security’, the suppression of China's key technologies and industries is unlikely to cease in the near term.”
“This visit may go some way to reducing tensions between both countries. However, as long as the hostility between them does not subside, the situation will remain the same, with good talks across the table, but confrontation when away from it.”
“Despite being belated, Blinken's visit has, after all, opened the door for China and the US to resume exchanges.”
“This visit may go some way to reducing tensions [剑拔弩张的紧张态势] between both countries. However, as long as the hostility between them does not subside, the situation will remain the same, with good talks across the table, but confrontation when away from it [桌上相谈甚欢、桌下车马对峙]. As a matter of fact, just before Blinken's visit to China, White House National Security Adviser [Jake] Sullivan paid back-to-back visits to India and Japan to coordinate [their] positions on how to ‘address the China challenge’. The previous US policy of ‘decoupling’ from China has been changed to ‘de-risking’ due to widespread opposition from the international community. But anyone with an eye for detail can see that it is [simply] ‘a different broth but the same old medicine’ [换汤不换药, i.e. a change in name only].”
“If the US retains its attitude of ‘I can talk if I want to’ and only wants China to accommodate the US, but is unwilling to care for China's sovereignty, security and development interests, then Blinken has made a mistake [打错了算盘]. The US must learn to work with a growing China.
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