On the last day of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's diplomatic tour in China, Beijing sounded a cautionary note, suggesting that relations between the two global powers might head south after a difficult climb.
Amidst the gradual restart of dialogues between the two nations, a senior Chinese diplomat sounded the alarm bells that there has been a surge in "negative factors that harm China-U.S. relations." Wang Yi, China's Foreign Minister, told reporters in Beijing on Friday that China had a legitimate right to strive for development, which has been unfairly impeded. He underlined that the two nations were at a critical juncture, either to stabilize relations or slip further down the slope.
According to US media, Blinken said that there had been some progress in bridging the gaps between the two nations. But he has repeatedly emphasized that it was important to come clean about issues of disagreement with China.
On Thursday, Chen Jining, Shanghai's Party Secretary, told Blinken in a discussion that Blinken had raised concerns over unfair trade practices, according to US press reports. Blinken had discussions with students and Chinese representatives from US businesses based in Shanghai throughout his three-day itinerary in China.
The summit meeting between US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, last November was meant to take the chill off bilateral relations after a year of frosty exchanges.
However, new rows over politics and economics have cropped up since the meeting. China has, in particular, expressed resentment over US sanctions over its tech sector and companies providing components that could be used by Russia in its military offensive in Ukraine.
On the other hand, the US has expressed concern over the reach of Chinese influence—an example of which has been legislation ordered last week directing ByteDance, a Chinese company, to divest its US-based video-sharing platform TikTok.
