US-China Relations Updates

According to a report by CNN on May 2nd local time, the US Ambassador to China, Burns, stated that the US never intended to “freeze US-China relations” and is ready to hold high-level talks with China at any time, hoping to reach a consensus with China on establishing better communication channels between the two countries.

NBC reported that Burns’ remarks were the clearest signal to date, demonstrating the Biden administration’s “desire” to restore dialogue with China.

There is no need to repeat mainstream media, what I want to share is how China reacts. Of course, we didn’t hear anything from Chinese government officials yet.

Although Burns expressed the urgency of the US to resume dialogue with China, his remarks still blamed China for the interruption of the dialogue.

While Burns repeatedly stated that it is necessary for China and the US to establish and strengthen reliable communication channels, he also claimed that China suspended many important channels of communication with the US after House Speaker Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan and the “wandering balloon” incident. The US has repeatedly called for a resumption of dialogue but to no avail.

His remarks both implicitly and explicitly suggest that China is ignoring the US, but he did not mention that it was the US that provoked and hyped up the situation first, and China responded accordingly.

On April 11, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin pointed out at a press conference that the current difficulties in China-US relations are not China’s responsibility.

He said that the US should stop interfering in China’s internal affairs, stop harming China’s interests, and stop erecting “guardrails” for China-US relations while destroying the political foundation of the two countries’ relations. The US should work with China to promote the healthy and stable development of China-US relations.

After Blinken made absurd remarks such as “China must show a willingness to continue engaging with the United States” at the G7 foreign ministers meeting (on the 18th), Wang Wenbin responded again by stating that China has always viewed and developed China-US relations based on mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation. The root cause of the current tension in China-US relations lies in the US’ wrong perception of China and its wrong policies toward China.

China has always maintained an open attitude towards China-US dialogue and hopes to strengthen high-level dialogue with the US, but the US has made various hostile moves towards China, which is the real obstacle to the resumption of dialogue between China and the US.

On April 21, former Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai pointed out at the “Chinese-style Modernization and the World” Blue Hall Forum that there are two prerequisites for China-US dialogue: respect for each other and keeping one’s word. “Dialogue is definitely the way to solve problems. But if the dialogue lacks sincerity and is not treated equally, it may not solve the problem.”

Here are some suggestions for the US government that could potentially lead to a phone call from Secretary Blinken or Ambassador Burns:

Firstly, to resolve the “wandering balloon” incident, the US government could issue a report and provide truthful information about the investigation. This incident led to Secretary Blinken canceling a meeting, so resolving it would be a crucial step.

Secondly, the US should consider putting an end to the trade war with China. It is possible that China will remove its tariffs as well. This trade war has had negative impacts on both China and the US, including hurting US consumers and increasing the US trade deficit.

Lastly, Cancel the sanctions against Defense Minister Li Shangfu.

And finally, efforts should be made to cool down the Taiwan issue. Although this may be difficult for the US, it is important to find common ground to connect with China again.