Secretary of State Antony Blinken allowed his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, to define the parameters of a meeting they held in Washington, DC, on Thursday, offering only a brief welcome to Wang before ceding the floor in remarks to reporters.
Wang arrived in America on Thursday for conversations with Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, and, potentially, President Joe Biden, though neither the White House nor the Chinese Foreign Ministry has confirmd such a meeting at press time.
The Chinese government described the visit as reciprocal in response to Blinken’s travel to Beijing in June, which the top diplomat used to promote the expansion of trade with Communist China and to effusively deny that any calls to diversify supply chains out of communist areas were meant to “contain” nefarious Chinese influence.
Blinken had initially scheduled his visit for February but canceled it in light of the discovery of a Chinese espionage vessel flying freely over sensitive American military sites. Biden allowed the balloon to traverse the continental United States after initially being discovered in the Northwest and ultimately shot it down over the Atlantic Ocean.
The Chinese spy balloon when it was traversing the United States (screenshot)
Reports prior to Wang’s arrival in Washington indicated that he would discuss the ongoing crisis in Israel following the unprecedented, atrocious terrorist attack by the genocidal jihadist group Hamas on October 7. Neither Wang nor Blinken publicly mentioned the issue, however – or any other. Israel also did not appear in the readouts of Wang and Blinken’s meeting issued by both governments.
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Joel B. Pollak / Breitbart NewsBlinken and Wang held a joint press conference prior to their private discussion in which Blinken bizarrely refused to offer any substantive comment.
“Good evening. I’m very pleased to welcome Foreign Minister Wang Yi to the United States. I very much look forward to constructive conversations over the next two days,” Blinken said. The remarks caused an awkward moment in which Wang waited for Blinken to continue before realizing he was not saying anything else, gestured toward Blinken, and asked, “so brief, huh?” to reporters’ laughter.
Wang offered reporters much more extensive remarks, though he did not mention any specific issue the two would discuss.
“We have disagreements; we have differences. At the same time, we also share important common interests and we face challenges that we need to respond together,” Wang said. “Therefore, China and the United States need to have dialogue.”
“Not only should we resume dialogue, the dialogue should be in-depth and comprehensive so that with dialogue we can increase mutual understanding, reduce misunderstanding and misjudgment,” Wang continued, “constantly seek to expand common ground and pursue cooperation that will benefit both sides so that we can stabilize China-U.S. relations and return it to the track of healthy, stable, and sustainable development.”
Wang went on to claim that China ignores “jarring voices” that run afoul of China’s interpretations of “the three China-U.S. joint communiques,” are not “consistent with international law and basic norms of international relations” as Beijing interprets them, and not “consistent with the climate of the times.”
The “three communiques” are a set of diplomatic statements issued between 1972 and 1992 in which the United States accepted China’s false claims of ownership over the sovereign state of Taiwan, formally established diplomatic ties with communist China, and claimed it would not engage in “long-term” arms sales to Taiwan. Beijing routinely condemns the United States when Taiwanese officials are allowed in the country or Washington engages in loose, informal exchanges with Taiwan.
“I agree with what the foreign minister said,” Blinken offered after Wang’s remarks.
Following the meeting, the State Department said in a readout that the two “discussed a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues, including addressing areas of difference as well as exploring areas of cooperation,” without naming any particular issue the two discussed.
“The Secretary reiterated that the United States will continue to stand up for our interests and values and those of our allies and partners,” the readout added, noting that Blinken and Wang expect to meet again for discussions on Friday.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry readout was even less informative, offering, “In a constructive atmosphere, the two sides exchanged in-depth views on Sino-U.S. relations and issues of common interest.” China’s state media networks reproduced the short readout without adding any details.
The lack of commentary on Friday was a contrast to the Chinese state-run Global Times newspaper playing up the Wang visit as “crucial” for the future of the relationship between both countries. The state newspaper predicted that a warm welcome for Wang in Washington could precede a meeting in the near term between Biden and dictator Xi Jinping; other reports have speculated that Xi may visit San Francisco for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November. The former mayor of San Francisco and current California Governor Gavin Newsom met with Xi in Beijing on Wednesday, reportedly telling Xi that he was “willing to push California to strengthen exchanges with China and seek closer cooperation in fields such as climate change and new energy.”
In this photo taken Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023 and released by Office of the Governor of California, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, left, meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. (Office of the Governor of California via AP)
