On Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met in Beijing to discuss a number of intricate topics, including growing tensions over China's support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
As the two sides attempt to sustain progress in their ties amid an extensive and thorny agenda, Blinken is scheduled to spend a couple of hours with Wang during closed-door sessions at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse and a working lunch.
As the two began their meeting, Wang said to Blinken that although the "great ship" of the China-US relationship had stabilized, negative aspects were still growing and intensifying.
Moreover, there are numerous interruptions in the relationship. He claimed that China's basic interests are being jeopardized and that its legitimate rights have been unjustly restrained.
In response, Blinken said that "active diplomacy" was required in order to carry out the agenda that Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden had established during their November meeting in San Francisco.
According to Blinken, there is no alternative to face-to-face diplomacy. He also stated that he wanted to make sure that both sides were clear about the areas in which there were differences, if only to prevent misunderstandings and miscalculations.
Prior to the meetings, representatives of the US State Department made it clear that China's backing of Russia would be a major theme. They stated that Washington is ready to take action against Chinese firms that have been assisting Russia's defense industry in retooling and resupplying.
They have stated that even when relations between China and the United States improve after the blows inflicted by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's 2022 tour to Taiwan and the United States' downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon in February 2023, such assistance runs the risk of undermining the relationship more broadly.
Tensions continue despite a rise in high-level meetings and working groups addressing topics like improved military communication and international trade.
Taiwan and the South China Sea issue continue to be hot spots, and the United States is hoping for more developments in limiting China's access to the raw materials needed to produce fentanyl.
The level of potential progress has been questioned by Chinese authorities and state media on a number of fronts. A China Daily editorial said that both parties had been essentially talking past each other. It said that the world can easily see that the Ukraine war is not a Sino-American dispute, and the United States should refrain from treating it as such.
Before departing for Washington this evening, Blinken is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping today; however, no meeting has been confirmed by either side as of yet.
Wang Xiaohong, China's director of public security, is also meeting with him.
Prior to the talks, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also gave the signal that the Biden administration would consider any options when it came to dealing with China's excess industrial capacity.
Yellen said during a Washington interview that the rest of the world will not allow China to export its way to full employment.
Blinken landed in Beijing on Thursday after visiting Shanghai, where he pushed China to create fair competition for American companies.