Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken is meeting with officials in China this week as disputes over war, trade, technology and security test the two countries' efforts to stabilize relations.
The United States is in an election year, with President Biden facing intense pressure to confront China's authoritarian government and provide new protections for American businesses and workers from low-cost Chinese imports. It turns out.
China is appealing for foreign investment to support its struggling economy. At the same time, leader Xi Jinping is expanding China's military presence around Taiwan and the South China Sea in ways that strengthen national security and alarm neighboring countries.
Mr. Biden and Mr. Xi have held talks over the past year to try to prevent their dispute from escalating into conflict, after relations between the two countries plunged to their lowest level in decades. However, various challenges can make it difficult to stabilize the relationship.
Conflict over China's territorial claims
The United States has countered China's increasing assertiveness over the South China Sea and the autonomous island of Taiwan by building security alliances in Asia.
That effort led to There is growing concern in Beijing that the United States is leading an operation to surround China and contain its rise.
Biden met with the leaders of Japan and the Philippines during a meeting earlier this month. The US government said the two leaders discussed territorial disputes in the South China Sea, including China's “repeated harassment of legitimate Philippine operations.”
Conflicts between Chinese and American warships and aircraft continue in the Taiwan Strait, South China Sea, and East China Sea, raising concerns that an accident could spark a conflict between the two countries. This is why U.S. officials have insisted on maintaining close military communications. High-level contacts between the two militaries were restored earlier this year after China froze communications in response to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan in August 2022.
China says the United States and its allies are stirring up conflict and should not interfere in regional affairs. There is already talk of the United States and the Philippines starting annual joint military exercises this week. The US military also deployed to the Philippines for the first time an intermediate-range missile system capable of reaching targets in China, as part of the exercise.
To counter U.S. efforts, China is seeking to strengthen ties with non-aligned countries in the region. The country's top diplomat, Wang Yi, visited Indonesia, Cambodia and Papua New Guinea last week, at about the same time that Blinken met with foreign ministers from G7 nations, as Beijing weighs in on its global influence. This is a group that I consider to be my rival.
Curbing the flow of fentanyl
U.S. officials say China has played a disturbing role in providing chemicals and precursors used to make the deadly drug fentanyl.
At a meeting in San Francisco in November, President Biden and Mr. Xi resolved to work together to track and reduce these trends. U.S. officials say China is starting to make some progress in this regard but is likely to push for further action.
In a report released last week, a China-focused House of Representatives committee alleged that China has been actively facilitating the supply of fentanyl precursors to the United States, including through subsidies to exporters. State Department officials said Chinese authorities have begun taking action against China's synthetic drug and chemical precursor suppliers, but the U.S. wants to see progress.
China has long denied playing a major role in the U.S. fentanyl crisis, escaping responsibility by claiming it was a victim of the West in the opium wars.
Trade and technology restrictions
The United States and China still have the world's most extensive trade relationship, but the relationship has become more contentious in recent months.
U.S. officials have urged China to cut back on exports of cheap electric cars and other green energy products, saying they are a threat to American jobs. The United States is considering whether to raise tariffs on Chinese-made cars and solar panels to prevent further imports from the United States.
The Biden administration announced last week that it would triple some tariffs on steel and aluminum products from China and launch an investigation into misconduct by China's shipbuilding, shipping and logistics sectors.
The Biden administration also continues to place further restrictions on sales of advanced chips and the machinery used to make them to China over concerns that AI could aid China's military.
And on Tuesday, the US Senate passed a bill that could force TikTok's Chinese owners to sell the app or face a ban in the US. The ban is likely to be challenged in court.
The Chinese government opposes the restrictions, with Mr. Xi calling them an attempt to deny China's “legitimate right to development.” In response, he called on China to foster “new productive capacity.” This is the government's slogan aimed at strengthening the country's economy through technology and innovation with the aim of becoming more self-reliant.
Cybersecurity and election interference
U.S. officials have expressed concern that China may try to influence the outcome of the upcoming U.S. presidential election, including by organizing social media campaigns to influence public opinion in the United States.
The National Security Agency said last week that there are also increasing signs that China is attempting to gain access to U.S. critical infrastructure in order to pose a threat to it in the event of a conflict. Microsoft announced last year that it had discovered malicious code spread by Chinese government hackers to telecommunications systems in the United States, including Guam.
Although the Chinese government denies involvement in cyberattacks or election interference, recently leaked documents show that China has developed a sophisticated network of state-sponsored, hired hackers that targeted databases around the world. It is shown that.
Russia's war against Ukraine
U.S. officials say China's sales to Russia of chips, machine tools, drones and other materials used in the Ukraine war are among the biggest hurdles in China-U.S. relations. It's clear.
And they believe that forcing China to withdraw its support could determine the outcome of the war.
While China supports Russia, it is trying to tread a cautious path by refraining from providing “lethal support” such as weapons to Russia. In early April, Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with Russia's foreign minister and reaffirmed the partnership between China and Russia.
Despite the easing of tensions between China and the United States, Mr. Xi and Russian President Vladimir V. Putin remain close allies. Both leaders accuse “American hegemony” of constraining national ambitions and seek to weaken America's global dominance.
exerting influence on Iran
Blinken and other U.S. officials want to avoid further war in the Middle East and have urged China not to use its influence over Iran to escalate its conflict with Israel.
As like-minded critics of the West, China and Iran have enjoyed close diplomatic relations for more than 50 years. That relationship expanded economically as China promised to invest billions of dollars in Iran in exchange for oil and fuel.
Earlier this month, the Chinese government described Iranian missile and drone strikes against Israel as “acts of self-defense” after seven Iranian officials were killed in what was believed to be an Israeli attack.
Since Israel's war in Gaza began, China has blamed the United States for decades of instability in the Middle East and called for unity with the Islamic world. The Chinese government also does not blame Hamas for the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel.
