Blinken meets with China’s Xi as differences grow

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with China’s President Xi Jinping and other Beijing officials as differences between the two nations grow on a number of issues. 

Blinken said he outlined the U.S. worries with China, mentioning Beijing’s backing of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has surpassed the two-year mark, and Taiwan.

“Russia would struggle to sustain its assault on Ukraine without China’s support,” Blinken said to reporters following the meeting.

Blinken also said he told Xi that Kyiv’s security is directly correlated to the broader security of the continent. 

“Fueling Russia’s defense industrial base not only threatens Ukrainian security, it threatens European security,” Blinken said. “As we’ve told China for some time, ensuring transatlantic security is a core U.S. interest. In our discussions today. I made clear that China does not address this problem.”

Xi stated the two nations need to find compromises to ensure prosperity on both sides, but he expressed worry regarding the U.S. impact on Beijing’s economic growth.  

“This is a fundamental issue that must be addressed, just like the first button of a shirt that must be put right, in order for the China-U.S. relationship to truly stabilize, improve and move forward,” Xi said, according to Reuters. 

Apart from the talk with Xi, the U.S. secretary of State met with China’s public security minister, Wang Xiaohong, and the nation’s foreign minister, Wang Yi. 

Wang Yi mentioned the relation between the countries is starting to “stabilize,” but also warned the U.S. to not meddle with the country’s internal developments. 

“China’s legitimate development rights have been unreasonably suppressed and our core interests are facing challenges,” Wang Yi said.

“China’s concerns are consistent,” he continued. “We have always called for respect of each other’s core interests and urge the United States not to interfere in China’s internal affairs, not to hold China’s development back, and not to step on China’s red lines on China’s sovereignty, security, and development interests.”

Blinken’s visit is due to wrap up on Friday. He came to China on Wednesday, not long after President Biden penned the $95 billion foreign aid package that included $8 billion to deter Chinese aggression toward Taiwan. The tranche of bills also includes legislation to ban TikTok in the U.S. if its parent company ByteDance, based in China, does not sell the American operations.

The Associated Press contributed