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My Take | Could China be ready to put the US ‘spy balloon’ blowout behind it?
- New Foreign Minister Qin Gang has signalled Beijing’s interest in reviving top-level talks with Washington after months of giving the cold shoulder
- It may not be Biden’s wished-for promise of ‘guardrails’ but it is a change in attitude
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There’s no saying how quickly things will change in the world of international relations.
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Few would have expected South Korea could achieve a rapprochement with Japan in just two months, looking past the most pernicious obstacle to their reconciliation – Tokyo’s colonial wrongdoings.
And just weeks after a cordial visit to Beijing, the Philippines’ new president has thrown himself into the arms of the United States to counter China’s alleged assertiveness in the South China Sea.
Then on Monday came new Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang’s overture to Washington during a meeting with American ambassador to Beijing Nicholas Burns.
In their first official sit-down since he stepped down as ambassador to the US to become foreign minister late last year, Qin blamed the US for bilateral tensions over Washington’s decision to shoot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon over the US airspace in February.
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He urged Washington to “reflect deeply” and listed a host of “erroneous words and deeds” President Joe Biden’s administration must address, especially in relation to Taiwan.
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