Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's Beijing visit was all about "let's talk about talking". Secretary met his counterpart, Qin Gang, his former counterpart and Chin

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's Beijing visit was all about "let's talk about talking". Secretary met his counterpart, Qin Gang, his former counterpart and China's top diplomat Wang Yi before calling upon the President of China, Xi Jinping.

Interesting to note here is the positions adopted by both sides on various issues. One of the striking features of the talks was the acknowledgement to increase military-to-military communication. This comes as the two sides have come very close to a clash in the South China Sea.

President Xi remarked that China doesn't seek to replace the USA. He emphasized on the responsibility and obligations of the two sides towards history & mankind. The two sides have to make strides towards stabilizing this Great Power Relationship.

Secretary of State Blinken emphasized that the US doesn't seek to contain China economically. He justified America's export control ban by saying that it was not in America's interests to facilitate technology transfer to China. 

America seeks a competition with China, with a better ability to manage the relationship through enhanced dialogue and communication so that the competition doesn't veer into conflict.

It is difficult to conclude that the Chinese would have seen this as a progress in the relationship. Washington would see this as a progress from where the relationship was since Speaker Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022. Beijing might still play with cold-hearted calculations.

If President Xi visits the US to attend the APEC Summit will decide whether the visit undertaken by Secretary Blinken was instrumental in "de-risking, not de-coupling but diversifying" the bilateral relationship.

Talking about Talking !

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