US plays down chance of breakthrough from Blinken’s China visit

The United States has played down chances of any breakthrough from the first trip by a US Secretary of State to China in five years after China called on Washington to stop meddling in its affairs ahead of Antony Blinken's visit to Beijing next week.

In a tense call with Blinken ahead of the next week's visit, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Wednesday urged the US to stop interfering in its affairs and harming its security.

Qin told Blinken Washington should respect China's core concerns if it wants to stop declining relations between the two sides.

US officials said Blinken would push to establish open communication channels to ensure competition with the Chinese does not spiral into conflict, Reuters reported.

"We're not going to Beijing with the intent of having some sort of breakthrough or transformation in the way that we deal with one another," Daniel Kritenbrink, the State Department's top diplomat for East Asia, told reporters in a briefing call.

"We're coming to Beijing with a realistic, confident approach and a sincere desire to manage our competition in the most responsible way possible," he said.

The US diplomat said he expected Blinken would "reiterate America's abiding interest in the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait" and also discuss the war in Ukraine.

Washington has repeatedly asked for an open military-to-military channel with China. However, Beijing is reluctant.

Washington and Beijing are at odds over a number of issues that are swiftly turning into sources of direct confrontation between the two nuclear-armed countries.

Tensions between China and the United States do not seem to be even close to abating.

For years, Beijing has been furious at Washington over the US military buildup in the Asia Pacific.

This has prompted Beijing to establish NATO-like military alliances in the region.

Beijing slams Washington's 'unscrupulous hysteria' against China

Beijing has slammed Washington for imposing new sanctions on Chinese companies and denounced the move as Washington

Deteriorating ties between the US and China have raised concerns they might one day clash militarily over the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which China claims as its own.

China has sovereignty over the Chinese Taipei, and under the "One China" policy, almost all world countries recognize that sovereignty. The US, too, recognizes the Chinese sovereignty over the island but has long courted Taipei in an attempt to unnerve Beijing.

Furthermore, Washington, which backs Taipei’s secessionist president, also infuriates Beijing by selling weapons to the self-governed island in violation of its own official policy.

The Chinese government strongly opposes other countries pursuing official and diplomatic ties with the Chinese Taipei and has consistently warned the US and other states against engaging with the self-proclaimed government in Taipei.

Beijing has called on the United States to stop official exchanges with the self-ruled Island under the guise of trade, but given all the developments it seems that Washington has no respect for international law and regulations.

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