Expect more US-China engagement this year despite ‘differences’ and ‘intense competition’: Antony Blinken

In interview at World Economic Forum in Davos, top American diplomat says the two powers are committed to collaborating in areas of ‘mutual interest’
He says Washington is committed to maintaining status quo in Taiwan and warns against ‘disruptive’ moves such as ‘the use of force’

US-China relations

Kawala Xie

Published: 8:13pm, 17 Jan 2024

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there would be more engagement between Washington and Beijing in the coming year despite the complexities in their relationship.

In an interview with American journalist Thomas Friedman at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, Blinken said Washington and Beijing were committed to collaborating in areas of mutual interest in spite of the many “differences” in their relationship.

He also said the US was committed to ensuring the status quo in Taiwan remained unchanged and warned against “disruptive” moves such as “the use of force”.

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“Our fundamental interest – the fundamental interest of countries around the world – is to make sure that peace and stability is maintained in the Taiwan Strait, that any differences between Beijing and Taiwan are resolved peacefully,” he said.

“And that’s actually one of the hallmarks of the success of the relationship between the United States and China, since the establishment of diplomatic relations has actually been the management of the Taiwan issue.”

Relations between Washington and Beijing have largely deteriorated in recent years, particularly over Taiwan, where independence-leaning presidential candidate William Lai Ching-te from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party was elected as the island’s next leader over the weekend.

Beijing has warned that any separatist moves would be “harshly punished” following the DPP’s victory on Saturday.

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.

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Blinken congratulated Lai on his victory, saying it showed the strength of Taiwan’s “robust democratic system”.

US President Joe Biden said Washington did not support Taiwan independence when asked to comment on the island’s election on Saturday.

Biden and Xi met in San Francisco in November and agreed to manage tensions in US-China relations. The leader summit saw some achievements such as the restoration of military-to-military communications, which Beijing suspended after former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s controversial trip to Taiwan. China has also committed to helping the US tackle its fentanyl crisis.

But there have not been any breakthroughs on the most contentious issues, including Taiwan, the South China Sea and US tech restrictions against China.

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Blinken said there would be more engagement between the two countries – including between their leaders – in the coming year.

“You’ll see more of that in the year ahead. But not only for purposes of stabilising the relationship, but to do two other things,” he said.

The first is “to make sure that we’re dealing very directly, very clearly with our differences so that there’s no misunderstanding about where we’re coming from,” he said.

“Second, to see if despite these differences, despite the intense competition, there are also places where it’s in our mutual interest to cooperate more.”

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who spoke at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday, said the US was competing with China “across multiple dimensions” but was seeking to manage that competition responsibly and intensifying diplomacy to reduce the risk of miscalculation.

Sullivan said that in addition to resuming military dialogues, the two sides were working on establishing new communications.

“Together, the US and China will launch a new dialogue aimed at minimising and managing the risks of artificial intelligence,” he said.