SHANGHAI — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken opened his first full day of meetings in China on Thursday by speaking with local government officials in Shanghai.
Blinken discussed local and regional issues with Chen Jining, Chinese Communist Party secretary in Shanghai. He also planned to speak with students and business leaders before heading to Beijing by train for what are expected to be contentious talks with national officials, including Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Blinken arrived in Shanghai on Wednesday shortly before President Joe Biden signed a $95 billion foreign aid package that has several elements likely to anger the Chinese, including $8 billion to counter China’s growing aggressiveness. towards Taiwan and the South China Sea. It is also seeking to force TikTok’s parent company, based in China, to sell the social media platform.
China has criticized US assistance to Taiwan, the self-ruled island it considers a renegade province, and immediately condemned the move as a dangerous provocation. He also strongly opposes efforts to force the sale of TikTok.
Still, the fact that Blinken made the trip, shortly after a conversation between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, a similar visit to China by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and a call between U.S. defense chiefs United States and China, it is a sign that both sides are at least willing to discuss their differences.
“I think it’s important to underscore the value — indeed, the necessity — of direct engagement, of talking to each other, laying out our differences, which are real, and trying to resolve them,” Blinken told Chen.
“We have an obligation to our people, indeed an obligation to the world, to manage the relationship between our two countries responsibly,” he said. “That is the obligation we have and that we take very seriously.”
Chen agreed with that sentiment, saying the recent call between Biden and Xi had helped the “stable and healthy development of our two countries’ relationship.”
“Whether we choose cooperation or confrontation affects the well-being of both peoples, both countries and the future of humanity,” he stated.
Chen added that he hoped Blinken could gain a “deep impression and understanding” of Shanghai.
Shortly after arriving, Blinken attended a Chinese basketball playoff game between the local Shanghai Sharks and the Zhejiang Golden Bulls, in which the home team lost in the final seconds, 121-120.