There is little room for maneuver as US-China relations move further – #room #maneuver #USChina #relations #move
WASHINGTON, March 23 (Reuters) – President Cho Biden last month USA after his fighter jet shot down a Chinese balloon suspected of spying, said he planned to speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping about the episode and clear the air between the rival superpowers.
Five weeks later, the call still hasn’t happened.
Instead, two months of diplomatic sniping and Xi’s this week Russia with President Vladimir Putin USAafter his visit to Moscow, where he denounced USA– According to some, China relations are at their worst since they normalized relations in the 1970s.
Things are further complicated by Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in the US next week and in early April, where she may meet Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during a “transit” stop in California on her way back, according to sources familiar with the planning. From Latin America.
“This is not a good time for American diplomacy,” said William Kirby, professor of Chinese studies at Harvard University. “The last time China and Russia It was so close in 1957, when Mao Zedong in Moscow “East wind will dominate over West wind,” he said.
Now, US officials are once again asking how to restore the world’s most important bilateral relationship.
Biden– Calling Xi would be an obvious first step. But despite the efforts of US diplomats, sources said the Chinese showed little interest in such a call, which would be their first known interaction since November’s G20 meeting in Bali.
Blinken last month weather After the balloon, he met with China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, at the Munich Security Conference, but this did not ease the tension. A source familiar with the conversation said Biden called it the most antagonistic US-China engagement since the controversial Alaska talks early in his administration.
The person said China refused to coordinate the meeting, prompting Daniel Kritenbrink, the State Department’s top diplomat for East Asia, to follow Wang Yi in person at the conference center to ask if it would happen.
STATE OF THE UNION COMMENT
The US decision to shoot down a Chinese balloon on February 4 drew angry complaints from China, with Wang calling the US response “hysterical”.
The source said the friction was exacerbated by Biden’s State of the Union address three days later, angering officials in Beijing and questioning Xi’s standing on the world stage.
“Name me a world leader who would switch places with Xi Jinping. Give me a name,” Biden said, clearly referring to a range of domestic and foreign policy challenges facing China.
China’s embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
A US State Department spokesman did not comment on the Munich meeting or China’s response to Biden’s comments, but said the US would maintain “open and constructive lines of communication” with China.
“In the past, when relations experienced a major downturn, such as after the Tiananmen massacre in 1989 or the Taiwan Strait crisis in 1995-96, the two countries made serious efforts to restore a stable footing in their relationship,” said Michael Swaine. China specialist at the Quincy Institute.
“Now, a deepening level of suspicion, vitriol and finger-pointing dominates nearly all exchanges, preventing meaningful engagement.”
A senior US administration official said on Monday Washington urged China to keep communication channels open despite a planned suspension by Tsai Ing-wen, who is sensitive about China’s claim to self-ruled Taiwan.
Whether or not official Washington calls China’s Xi-Baden weather State Secretary Antony Blinken, who was postponed due to the balloon, said that he is open to ideas about changing the time of his visit to China.
Rick Waters, the US deputy assistant secretary for China, Taiwan and Mongolia, is currently in China and will likely try to lay the groundwork for Blinken’s visit, a person familiar with his plans said.
ALL OF CHINA
Some, such as Mike Gallagher, the Republican chairman of the House Select Committee on China, Russia and wants a tougher stance, saying China is already engaged in a “new cold war.”
According to him, in order to ensure that China does not submit to Russia’s leadership in Ukraine by occupying Taiwan, Washington is “foreign to Taiwan military aggressively clear the backlog of sales and ensure that American hard power is able to thwart Xi’s apparent ambitions to take over the island democracy.”
However, Biden is likely to mediate with Saudi Arabia through China Iran rapprochement between and after his meetings with Putin will find Xi bold in any challenge. Lily McElwee of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said these concessions could generate much-needed goodwill. offer can reduce the likelihood of doing so.
Past the president Daniel Russel, the chief diplomat of the United States for East Asia during Barack Obama, Biden’s visit to Japan and Australia in May trip Given what he will do, he said the window for the Biden-Xi call could “open slowly and close quickly.” The -7 and Quad countries have encouraged Washington to push back against China’s ambitions, which is likely to further antagonize Beijing.
Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Michael Martina Editing by Don Durfee and Alistair Bell
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
2023-03-24 22:07:58
Source – reuters
Translation“24 HOURS”