Joe Biden’s government to hold first high-level meeting with China next week

Joe Biden’s government in the United States will hold its first high-level meeting with its Chinese counterpart next week. The meeting will take place in Alaska on March 18-19 and Washington will be represented by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Beijing side, to attend Foreign Minister Wang Yi and diplomat Yang Jiechi.

“The objective will be to compare the expectations and plans of each in terms of domestic policy, and our objectives at the international, regional and global levels.Said the official who announced the meeting but whose identity was not disclosed, as reported The Wall Street Journal.

The main issues to be resolved are: the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and other more controversial ones such as China’s advance on Hong Kong and its increasing pressure on Taiwan, as well as the “undeclared economic embargoes” that Beijing has imposed on Australia.

The meeting will take place after senior officials in the Biden administration hold similar meetings with regional allies. This Friday, Biden will hold a virtual meeting with the heads of state of Australia, Japan and India, a group known as the Quad and seen as an axis that seeks to counter China’s influence in this region. ..

In fact, China has spoken out on the fledgling alliance. The “Quad” “must align with the prevailing trends of peaceful development and cooperation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing.

Blinken, meanwhile, will arrive in Anchorage -the capital of Alaska- after a four-day trip to Japan and South Korea. This will in fact be the grievor’s first international trip since taking office. So far, he has only had telephone and virtual conversations with international delegations.

The leaders of the two powers will not be present, but they have already had a telephone conversation. It was February 11, and according to the White House, Biden expressed his “deep concerns” about Beijing’s “unfair and coercive” economic practices, the repression in Hong Kong and “human rights violations in Xinjiang, an area where the Uighur Muslim minority lives..

The two leaders also spoke, according to the White House statement, of the COVID-19 pandemic and “common challenges” posed by global health security and climate change.

In a previous interview, Biden warned that the rivalry between China and the United States would turn into “extreme competition”, although at the same time he said he wanted to avoid a “conflict” between the two countries. . This balance is what Blinken will seek to maintain during the meeting.

When asked about his Chinese counterpart, Biden noted: “He doesn’t have, and I don’t hear it as a criticism, but it’s a reality, only one democratic bone in his body“.

Biden is also seeking to make his own imprint on the military approach to the relationship with the formation of a Defense Department special task force on China. In this sense, he ordered an immediate review of the military’s strategic approach to Beijing.

During a visit to the Pentagon, Biden said the review was crucial to “chart a solid course on issues related to China that will require a whole-of-government effort.”

“We must face the growing challenges posed by China to maintain the peace and defend our interests in the [océano] Indo-Pacific and global, ”he added.

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