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The U.S. demonstrates its readiness for a dialogue with China.
On May 10-11, Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor to the U.S. President, and Wang Yi, head of the Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Foreign Affairs, held talks in Vienna. This was reported by the U.S. State Department and the White House. And the Western media. The Chinese diplomatic office informed about this meeting laconically, considering it confidential.
Westerners report that the meeting, which lasted a total of eight hours, discussed a wide range of international issues, including Taiwan and the situation in Ukraine.
However, judging by these reports, the main topic was U.S.-China relations. According to the Americans, the two sides had "frank, thorough, constructive talks on major issues of U.S.-China bilateral relations."
As for the frankness – this is most likely a deliberate overdoing, in order to make it positive and create a favorable backdrop in the information space. As they say, we have a dialogue with the Chinese, despite our disagreements – everything is constructive. But in fact, this is the only U.S.- Chinese meeting at such a high level in six months since President Xi Jinping graced President Biden with his attention on the margins of the G20 Summit in Bali in November 2022.
In addition, this meeting in Vienna was held on neutral territory, behind the scenes, which means that the Chinese side refrained from full-fledged official negotiations. There is nothing to talk about when the U.S. pays lip service to the "One China" principle, but in fact supports the separatist aspirations of the Taiwanese leadership.
Washington is standing at the red line marked by Beijing concerning Taiwan, and has already put its foot down to cross it. According to the Americans, Sullivan and Wang Yi have agreed to preserve "this important strategic communication channel." Well, yes, the Chinese side is also in favor of keeping it, but no more. Contacts between Washington and Beijing dropped sharply after U.S. House Speaker Pelosi's visit to Taiwan. Further tensions arose when the U.S. shot down a Chinese balloon over its territory in February 2023. At the time, the Americans indefinitely postponed Secretary of State Blinken's visit to China and, in fact, cancelled it. Further cooling of relations between Beijing and Washington followed a meeting in the U.S. between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Taiwanese Chief of Staff Tsai Ing-wen.
Beijing believes that the U.S. policy toward China has undermined the positive development of relations between the two countries, violating the agreements reached by President Xi Jinping and President Biden during a meeting in Bali in November 2022.
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said at the time that "it is extremely important to stabilize Sino-U.S. relations, avoid their downward spiral, and prevent emergencies between China and the United States." But in order to do so, the United States must "adjust its perception of China," stop "talking about dialogue, and, on the other hand, continue to suppress and contain China."
But will the U.S. go for it? Or will it be another diplomatic ploy to try to postpone the "moment of truth" in Sino-U.S. relations, in which an intractable contradiction based on fundamental differences is becoming increasingly apparent? Beijing is unlikely to engage in serious dialogue as Washington floods Taiwan with weapons and provokes it to use them against mainland China.
Signs of all this can also be seen in the actions of U.S. allies, who are perhaps even less restrained than Washington. Former British government prime minister Liz Truss is about to arrive in Taiwan. There, she will mark a report at a local think tank to "show solidarity with the island as it faces a growing threat from China." The furious Truss will also meet with high-ranking Taiwanese government officials. And on the eve of her trip, the former prime minister gave speeches on China's policies at the Japanese Parliament and the Heritage Foundation in Washington, where she urged Western countries to toughen their stance on the PRC. Though the lady is now out of the country, it is unlikely that her visit was not coordinated with official London. Therefore, there is little chance that the trip will help ease tensions between Britain and China.
Relations between the PRC and Canada also continue to deteriorate. They are currently experiencing a diplomatic conflict. In response to the expulsion from Ottawa of Zhao Wei, an employee of the Consulate General of the PRC, who was accused of interfering in the internal affairs of the country, Beijing declared Canadian diplomat Jennifer Lalonde persona non grata. The scandal arose because, according to Canadian intelligence, one of the Canadian lawmakers, Michael Chong allegedly fell under the special attention of Chinese intelligence agencies. In 2021, he initiated a bill which recognizes the Chinese government's actions towards the Uighurs as genocide. Canadian intelligence believes that "at the behest of the CPC, Zhao Wei was involved in gathering information about the Canadian official and his family."
And this is not an isolated case. Relations between China and Canada have been deteriorating since 2018, when Huawei's CFO was detained in Canada. Recently, amid reports of Chinese interference in Canadian elections, bilateral ties have been experiencing almost the worst period in their history.
Last week, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said that his country could only rely on the United States in its standoff with the DPRK because the Chinese authorities were not complying with the sanctions regime imposed on North Korea. Supposedly, the government of the Republic of Korea has no choice but to expand cooperation with the United States in the area of nuclear weapons. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning explained to the Korean president the essence of the problem: "China is conscientiously fulfilling its international obligations. We hope that all sides clearly understand the causes of the situation on the Korean Peninsula and will resolve the issue with appropriate means." There is an allusion here to the presence of American submarines in waters near the Korean Peninsula. This is exactly what the U.S. and South Korean presidents agreed to at the end of April. And it is this, as well as the expansion of the U.S. military presence on and near the Korean Peninsula, that increasingly worries Beijing. China's position is that dialogue, not economic sanctions, is needed to resolve the problem of the Korean Peninsula and limit North Korea's nuclear program, which directly contradicts the position of South Korean conservatives.
Meanwhile, Tokyo is preparing to open a liaison office of the North Atlantic Alliance in Japan, a representative office in Asia. In other words, Russia's longtime partners are putting their tentacles directly into the Asian region as well. According to Japan's Nikkei, the bureau will allow NATO representatives to hold regular consultations with Japan and key partners in the region, such as South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
In addition, NATO and Japan are planning to sign an individual partnership program. This will happen before the NATO summit in Vilnius in July. So far, it is about deepening cooperation in the areas of cybersecurity, new technologies and combating disinformation, Nikkei reports. By the way, there are similar bureaus in other countries that actively cooperate with NATO but are not members of the alliance, including Ukraine and Georgia. In fact, this is the next step in NATO's eastward expansion. The North Atlantic Alliance has long been deepening its relations with Asia-Pacific states, evolving into a global military bloc. On the other hand, this is fully consistent with Japan's policy of rejecting the peace clause of the constitution and building up its armed forces, turning the country into a military power. On this path, NATO is seen by the Japanese authorities as a major partner and ally.
And it is clear who is the enemy. It is Russia and China. The opening of a similar office in the Republic of Korea is looming. The president of South Korea has repeatedly spoken in favor of deepening relations with the alliance.
Beijing believes that such a bloc policy will not do any good; it is not China's choice. China offers the world a completely different alternative, developing economic relations, including with the U.S. neighbors, involving them in peaceful cooperation. Almost all Latin American countries participate in the "One Belt, One Road" infrastructure project. But it seems that the West simply does not leave any options. The policy of the United States and its allies is moving the world toward global confrontation, and objectively pushes China to work more closely with Russia in the military sphere.