During the meeting he had with the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, the President of China, Xi Jinping, said: “The future and fate of mankind depend on whether or not the US and China will find the right path to coexist “. According to the news transmitted by Chinese television, the President of China, Xi Jinping, and the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, met in the People’s Congress building in Beijing. Xi Jinping pointed out that Anthony Blinken’s visit to Beijing led to progress on a number of issues between China and the US and the initiation of agreements, calling this situation “a very good thing”. Xi also described the meetings China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang and Chinese Communist Party Central Committee Foreign Relations Commission Bureau Chairman Wang Yi had with Blinken as “sincere and profound.” “We hope for a healthy and stable relationship.” Referring to the meeting with Blinken, Xi expressed hope that relations between Beijing and Washington “will overcome all difficulties” and added: “China hopes that relations with the US will be healthy and stable and that these two great powers will overcome all the difficulties; we also believe that they will find the right way to coexist in peace and mutual respect and cooperate to the advantage of both countries.” Xi also mentioned:

“China and the US are strong enough to ensure their own development and common prosperity” and continued: “”The future and fate of mankind depend on whether or not the US and China find the right path to coexist.” “Success should be an opportunity, not a threat.” Xi also stated that the Chinese people are people who trust him, who respect themselves, like the American people, and that both peoples have the right to a better life: “We need to appreciate the common interests of the two countries, and the success of one should not represent a threat to the other, but an opportunity.” Xi drew attention to the fact that “the rivalry between the great powers is behind us” and that this rivalry “certainly will not be able to solve the domestic problems of the US or the difficulties faced by the whole world”. Apart from the thorny issue of ties between the United States and Taiwan, the island claimed by Beijing and at the center of the confrontation between the two powers, bilateral relations remain strained over a large number of issues. All eyes are now on another potentially significant meeting between the US Secretary of State and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Neither side has confirmed a meeting between Antony Blinken and Xi Jinping, whose meeting with US President Joe Biden in Bali in November raised cautious hopes of a thaw in relations. But a meeting between the secretary of state and his Chinese host seems likely, especially after Xi Jinping welcomed another prominent American, former Microsoft boss and philanthropist Bill Gates, to Beijing last week. A senior US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the meeting went beyond the usual discussions, including on Taiwan. “It was a real conversation,” he said. Antony Blinken’s visit is the first by a US Secretary of State to China since his predecessor, Mike Pompeo, in October 2018.

By Paul Bumman