Blinken to seek to 'responsibly manage' tense ties on rare China trip

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Antony Blinken will seek to reduce the chances of miscalculation on a rare visit to Beijing, officials said, but both sides expect long-term tensions to fester.

The State Department confirmed that Blinken will travel this weekend to Beijing on the first trip by a top US diplomat in nearly five years, rescheduling a visit that was scrapped in February as the United States detected what it said was a Chinese spy balloon.

Ahead of the trip, Blinken spoke by telephone to Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and stressed "the importance of maintaining open lines of communication to responsibly manage" the relationship, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. 

Relations between the world's two largest economies have tanked in recent years over Taiwan, trade and human rights, among a litany of other issues.

Daniel Kritenbrink, the top State Department official for East Asia, said that the United States was "realistic" about what Blinken could achieve.

"We're not going to Beijing with the intent of having some sort of breakthrough or transformation," Kritenbrink told reporters.

Instead, Blinken is coming with a "sincere desire to manage our competition in the most responsible way possible".

The United States hopes the trip "will, at a minimum, reduce the risk of miscalculation so that we do not veer into potential conflict".

US policymakers across party lines have spoken of China as the foremost US competitor, even as President Joe Biden also focuses on countering Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

"We know efforts to shape or reform China over several decades have failed," said Kurt Campbell, who leads Asia policy at the White House.

"We expect China to be around — to be a major player — on the world stage for the rest of our lifetimes," he told reporters.

Campbell said the United States also expected more "provocative steps" by China over Taiwan, the self-governing democracy claimed by Beijing.

China has accused the United States of stirring up trouble in Taiwan through arms sales and visits by senior lawmakers — allegations rejected by Washington, which says it seeks to preserve the status quo by helping Taipei defend itself.

China struck a confrontational tone in a readout of the call with Blinken, saying that Qin had warned that relations between the two countries had faced "new difficulties and challenges" since the beginning of the year.

"It's clear who is responsible," Qin said, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.

"China has always viewed and managed China-US relations in accordance with the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation put forward by President Xi Jinping," he added.

Blinken will be the first secretary of state to visit Beijing since a brief 2018 stop by Mike Pompeo, who later led Donald Trump's fierce approach against China including over the COVID-19 pandemic.

Biden and Xi met in Bali in November and agreed to try to prevent tensions from soaring out of control, including by sending Blinken to Beijing.

But Blinken abruptly cancelled a trip scheduled in early February after the United States said it detected — and later shot down — a Chinese surveillance balloon flying over the US mainland.

The two sides have more recently looked again to keep tensions in check, including with an extensive, closed-door meeting between Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi in Vienna last month.

In contrast with Trump, Biden has sought limited areas for cooperation with China, such as climate change. But points of tension keep rising.

The White House last week accused China of operating an intelligence unit in Cuba for years and upgrading it in 2019 in an effort to enhance its presence on the Caribbean island.

A base in Cuba, which lies 150 kilometres off Florida's southern tip, would be viewed in Washington as a direct challenge to the continental United States.

Asked about the base, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said he was "unaware of the situation" before criticising US policy on Cuba.