Blinken, Xi pledge to stabilize deteriorating bilateral ties

While Xi said he was satisfied with the talks, Blinken highlighted China's refusal to reopen military dialogue

 

The US and China have pledged to stabilize their badly deteriorated ties during a critical visit to Beijing by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who met Monday with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Xi pronounced himself satisfied with progress made during talks in Beijing. But, Blinken told media, China refused to resume military-to-military communications, a US priority.

It remains to be seen whether the two countries can resolve their most important disagreements, many of which have international financial, security and stability implications.

The two sides expressed a willingness to hold more talks, but there was little indication that either is prepared to bend from its positions on issues including trade, Taiwan, human rights conditions in China and Hong Kong, Chinese military assertiveness in the South China Sea, and Russia's war in Ukraine.

Blinken said later that the US set limited objectives for the trip and achieved them. Blinken added that he had raised the issue of military to military communications "repeatedly".

"It is absolutely vital that we have these kinds of communications," he said. "This is something we're going to keep working on."

The US has said that, since 2021, China has declined or failed to respond to over a dozen requests from the Department of Defense for top-level dialogues.