Chinese Supreme Leader Xi Jinping rolled out the red carpet for Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, hailing him as an “old friend of the Chinese people”. He sipped tea in a garden with French President Emmanuel Macron and treated him to a performance. Ancient Chinese zither. And he has spoken on the phone with Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Best wishes to Muslims for the holy month of Ramadan.
But even as Mr. Xi has happily offered a hand to these people and other world leaders in recent weeks, it has only been the cold shoulder for America. China has rejected the Biden administration’s efforts to de-escalate tensions and hold high-level talks on Taiwan. And Mr. Xi’s government has stepped up its campaign of derision and criticism of America and Western democracy.
Together, the efforts to strengthen ties with American allies while publicly disparaging the United States reflect Beijing’s hardening position as ties have sunk to their lowest point in decades, which Mr. Xi has called Washington. described as “China’s containment, encirclement and suppression”.
Some analysts say the two-pronged approach is strong evidence that Mr. Xi is fully committed to the view that engagement between China and the United States is fruitless, at least for now. And it has quickly addressed concerns that the two powers are on a collision course that could lead to dangerous accidents, or even war, over Taiwan and other geopolitical flashpoints.
Mr. Xi’s diplomatic effort was rejected by the United States and some of its closest allies this week, when a high-level group of seven diplomats met in Japan and expressed that commitment. Address China’s growing aggression together.. But Mr Xi is still getting some of the backlash he and other Chinese officials had hoped for in recent months, with some alliances visibly undermining Washington’s influence.
During Mr. Xi’s meeting with Mr. Lula, the Brazilian leader railed against the continued dominance of the U.S. dollar in trade and visited a research center for Chinese telecommunications company Huawei, which has been subject to U.S. sanctions. are Mr Macron praised European sovereignty and warned against being dragged into a war against Taiwan by the US. And Prince Mohammed praised China’s progress.Constructive roleIn the Middle East, the United States and its strained relations in the region are not so subtle.
At the same time, Chinese state media have railed against the “threats” and “abuses” of US hegemony and criticized the US for human rights, racism and gun violence. It has seized on leaked Pentagon documents to highlight how Washington is spying on its allies. And he has mocked the Biden administration for holding a summit on democracy last month, calling American democracy “disturbing,” “dirty” and “in steady decline.”
Beijing’s tough line reflects its frustration over a series of US actions, particularly regarding Taiwan, which China claims for itself. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen visited the United States earlier this month and met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. On Monday, Taiwan said it had signed a deal to buy 400 US anti-ship missiles to help counter a possible Chinese attack.
Then there are the joint military exercises the US is conducting with the Philippines, the largest in decades.
These actions fuel deep resentments. US restrictions on advanced semiconductor exports Growing security ties between China and the US and China’s periphery such as Japan, South Korea, Australia and India.
For Chinese officials, US pleas for new diplomatic engagement — including a long-awaited call between Mr. Biden and Mr. Xi — ring hollow in the face of what they see as growing hostility and provocation. High-level talks can move forward only if the US demonstrates.Credible sincerity with concrete actionsChina’s state media said last week.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, when asked about the resumption of talks with Washington recently and the possible rescheduling of the secretary’s visit to Beijing, said that the current difficulties in China-US relations are to be blamed on China. It doesn’t happen. Anthony J. Blanken of State, which was revoked in February after the rise of a suspected high-altitude Chinese spy balloon over the continental United States.
“The US needs to stop interfering in China’s internal affairs and harming China’s interests, and stop undermining the political foundation of our bilateral relations and ‘deepening’ relations,” Mr. Wang added. Emphasis should be placed on the need to put.”
The Biden administration says it wants to set up “tracks” to prevent a misunderstanding from igniting an incident in disputed areas such as the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, where China has held live-fire drills in response to Ms Tsai’s visit. why Without protocols and direct lines of communication, the risk of an incident would remain high as US and Chinese forces regularly patrol the region, and Often at close range.
Beijing sees the guardrails as another form of containment because they will reveal to the United States how much pressure it can exert without triggering a military response. China would prefer to keep its red lines vague and leave Washington guessing.
China suspended most military talks with the US after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last August. The Pentagon said As recently as last week, Beijing rejected requests to engage with Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark A. Milley.
Mr Blanken expressed some hope that high-level talks would resume.
“My expectation would be that we will be able to move forward on this. But it requires China to clarify its intentions in doing so,” he told reporters at the Group of 7 meeting in Japan on Tuesday. .
Analysts say Mr. Xi likely believes that he has nothing to gain from talking to President Biden at this time, especially as negative views of China in the United States are increasingly widespread.
“Xi clearly believes that engagement for engagement’s sake is a fool’s errand. The time for talk has passed. Instead, it’s time for Beijing to batten down the hatches,” said Craig Singleton, of the nonpartisan Foundation for A China Senior Fellow at Defense of Democracies. “Simply put, there is no going back to the way things were, so Xi must now prepare China for a more fulfilling future.”
Minxen Pei, a professor at Claremont McKenna College who studies Chinese politics, said it is possible that Beijing will re-engage with Washington when it feels it has more to gain. That could come after Beijing deepens ties with more non-aligned countries like Brazil, or after it widens divisions in Europe over how closely it should follow the US in its tough stance on China. .
“China wants to engage the United States from a position of strength, and China is clearly not in that position anymore,” Mr. Pe said. “If anything, America’s success in gathering allies and waging a tech war against China proves that it is still more powerful and has more tools than China.”
China is now trying to diplomatically snub the US and convince central bankers and investors that it Re-opened for business. After years of strict covid measures.
China’s central bank governor Yi Geng met with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington last week to discuss their countries’ economies. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo are also planning to visit China.
But Mr Yee also had complaints. He criticized Western countries for diverting trade from China to geopolitical allies, using the term “friend-shoring” in a statement to the International Monetary and Financial Committee on Friday.
Chinese analysts say the chances of an improvement in Sino-US relations anytime soon are remote. Wu Xinbo, dean of international studies at Shanghai’s Fudan University, said the modest progress Mr. Xi and Mr. Biden had made since they met in Indonesia last November had ended after the balloon incident and Ms. Tsai’s visit to the United States. .
“In China’s view, although Biden showed a good attitude in Bali, he is not strongly ready to improve China-US relations,” Mr. Wu said. “China believes that the US has neither the sincerity nor the ability to improve relations.”
Olivia Wang Cooperation reporting.
Audio produced by Parveen Behrouz.
