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Opinion | Building on Blinken’s visit to repair US-China relations will require a pianist’s approach
- Just as a pianist practises a new piece of music slowly, with attention to every phrase, keeping the first signs of goodwill between Washington and Beijing on track calls for a disciplined use of words
- More educational exchanges and people-to-people interactions will also help improve understanding and dispel fear and suspicion
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Such is the state of US-China relations that having a high-level meeting, regardless of the immediate outcome, is a win for both countries. Thus, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken could return to Washington with confidence that his 35-minute interaction with President Xi Jinping provided the two governments with matter and momentum.
This was the highest-level meeting in Beijing since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and a conversation of substance. If you examine Blinken’s remarks to the press, he makes three important points.
First, the United States stands by the “one China” policy and does not support Taiwan independence. Second, it would be “disastrous” for the world’s two largest economies to decouple, ending trade and investment. Third, the number of educational exchanges and direct flights between the two countries must be accelerated.
On that last point, here is a statistic to consider: in April 2023, there were only 85 flights across 10 routes from the US to mainland China, compared to April 2019 when there were 1,506 across 50 routes. The lack of flights has not only kept families apart, it has also created space for fear, suspicion and misunderstanding to flourish.
While Blinken only briefly mentioned educational exchanges, he evoked a happier era when people-to-people contacts thrived with the encouragement of US president Jimmy Carter and Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping. All three points – Taiwan, no decoupling and more exchanges – are aligned with broader Chinese thinking and, I believe, are in the interests of the longer-term well-being of humanity.
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‘China will not challenge or replace the US’, Xi tells Blinken at crucial meeting
‘China will not challenge or replace the US’, Xi tells Blinken at crucial meeting
That said, China has three points of its own. First, both countries must act with a sense of responsibility for the good of history, people and the world. Second, major country competition should be put aside for peace, development and win-win cooperation. Third, and I think most importantly, positive statements must be turned into action.
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