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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken sends China goodwill message for Chinese National Day and pledges cooperation on ‘shared challenges’
- Top American diplomat wishes Chinese people ‘peace, happiness and prosperity’ while welcoming Beijing’s efforts on climate, health and food security
- The message comes as Beijing and Washington ramp up exchanges, with four top-ranked US officials visiting China over the summer
Published: 4:47pm, 30 Sep, 2023
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Vice-president Han Zheng shake hands on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on September 18. Photo: TNS
ChinaDiplomacy
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken published a statement congratulating China on its 74th National Day, which commemorates the founding of the People’s Republic, pledging more cooperation with Beijing on “shared challenges” as high-level exchanges between the two countries have ramped up in recent months.
“As the United States continues to work with the international community to solve the world’s most serious challenges, we welcome the cooperation of the People’s Republic of China in addressing shared challenges, including the climate crisis, public health, counter-narcotics, food security, and global macroeconomic stability,” said the statement issued on Saturday.
He added that the US wished the people of China “peace, happiness and prosperity” in the year ahead.
Beijing and Washington have conducted a series of senior official exchanges in recent months after a deep freeze earlier this year.
Four senior officials visited Beijing over the summer: Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and John Kerry, the White House climate envoy.
Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng also met Blinken on September 18 in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. During the meeting, Blinken told Han that it was good to maintain high-level engagements between the two countries to make sure the two sides were “maintaining open communications”.
Referring to Blinken’s June visit, Han said the trip meant China and the US were “stepping up engagement and dialogue and working together to stabilise the bilateral relationship”.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan also held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on September 16 and 17 in Malta for talks that covered issues ranging from Taiwan to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Sun Weidong, China’s foreign vice-minister for Asia, met Daniel Kritenbrink, US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, in Washington on Thursday.
The two senior diplomats raised sensitive issues including Taiwan, the South China Sea and Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden have not met since last November when they held talks on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) meetings in Bali, Indonesia.
Xi was absent from the G20 summit in New Delhi, India this year, which was attended by Biden. The Post reported earlier this week that more diplomatic efforts between Beijing and Washington are required before Xi commits to attending the Apec summit in San Francisco in November.
Wang Yiwei, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, said Washington’s National Day message “reflects a hope to ease tensions on the US side”.
He said Blinken’s message showed Washington hoped Xi could attend the Apec meeting, and it wanted to increase engagement to assert influence.
During a dinner reception in Beijing on Thursday, Xi said in his National Day speech that China was still facing “many risks and challenges” amid a “deep change in the international environment”.
But he added that China would keep promoting “high-level opening-up” and the Belt and Road Initiative, the Beijing-led infrastructure project.
The leader also said Beijing would “uphold international justice and practise genuine multilateralism”.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is planning a trip in October to prepare for the Xi-Biden talks, quoting people familiar with the situation.
It also said Beijing and Washington were paving the way for a US visit by Chinese vice-premier He Lifeng.
The last senior Chinese official to travel to Washington was Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, who visited in late May.
Blinken’s message called for US-China cooperation in food security and global macroeconomic stability, which were not raised in his National Day message to China last year.
Food security has been a growing concern globally. According to the World Food Programme, more than 345 million people faced high levels of food insecurity in 2023 – more than double the number in 2020 – due to climate change and conflicts.
Both Beijing and Washington have raised the issue in their diplomatic agendas, especially since the Black Sea Initiative, which guaranteed the transport of grain from Ukraine, was terminated on July 17.
After the termination of the food corridor, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Beijing was committed to “working with countries around the world” and contributing more to “building a world without hunger or poverty”.
Barry Sautman, an emeritus professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said Blinken’s message was “customary in diplomacy”, but it indicated that Biden’s government did not plan to go too far in its antagonism towards China despite the hawkish stance of the Republican-led US Congress.
He added that among US-China specialists not affiliated with the Republican Party, “many are concerned that US-China relations are dangerously impaired and that the US government itself bears significant responsibility for that”.
Despite challenges in US-China ties, the Biden administration has sent congratulatory National Day messages every year.
Blinken pledges cooperation with China in National Day message
Top American diplomat wishes Chinese people ‘peace, happiness and prosperity’ while welcoming Beijing’s efforts on climate, health, food security and economic stability.
www.scmp.com
