China’s top leader Xi Jinpingrolled out the red carpet for the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silvapraising him as “an old friend of the Chinese people”.
He had tea in a garden with the President of France, Emmanuel Macronand invited him to play an ancient Chinese zither.
And he spoke to the Crown Prince on the phone Mohammed bin Salmande facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, wishing him good wishes for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
But while Xi has reached out to these and other world leaders in recent weeks, he has shown only coolness toward the United States.
China has rejected attempts by the Biden administration to resume high-level talks and ease tensions on Taiwan.
And the Xi government has stepped up a campaign derision and criticism to the United States and Western democracy.
Taken together, the efforts to strengthen ties with American allies while publicly discrediting the United States reflect the hardening of Beijing’s position as relations sink to their lowest point in decades on what Xi has described as “containment, encirclement and crackdown on China” by Washington.
According to some analysts, this two-pronged approach is strong evidence that Xi is fully committed to believing that the China-US compromise is fruitless, at least for now.
And it lent urgency to concerns that the two powers are on a collision course that could lead to dangerous incidents, or even war, over Taiwan and other geopolitical flashpoints.
Xi’s diplomatic effort was rebuffed by the United States and some of its closest allies this week, when a meeting of senior diplomats from the Group of 7 major industrial countries gathered in Japan and vowed to jointly address the growing assertiveness of the China.
Yet, in recent months, Xi has received some of the backlash he and other Chinese officials have come to expect, visually eroding some of the allegiances that underpin Washington’s influence.
During Xi’s meeting with Lula, the Brazilian leader railed against the continued dominance of the US dollar in trade and visited a research center of Chinese telecom giant Huawei, which is under scrutiny sanctions from the United States.
Macron has praised European autonomy and warned that the United States will not drag him into a war over Taiwan.
And Crown Prince Mohammed praised China’s growing “constructive role” in the Middle East, a not-so-subtle nod to the United States and its strained relations in the region.
At the same time, Chinese state media railed against the “dangers” and “abuses” of US hegemony and criticized the US on human rights, racism and gun violence.
It has seized leaked Pentagon documents highlighting how Washington has been spying on its allies.
And he mocked the Biden administration for holding a democracy summit last month, describing American democracy as “troubled”, “messy” and “steadily declining”.
postures
Beijing’s tougher line reflects its frustration with a series of US moves, especially in relation to Taiwan, the autonomous island claimed by China.
. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen visited the United States this month and met with the Speaker of the House of Representatives kevin mccarthy.
On Monday, Taiwan announced that it has concluded a purchase deal 400 US anti-ship missiless to counter a possible Chinese invasion.
Then there are the joint military exercises the United States is holding with the Philippines, the largest in decades.
These moves compound deeper grievances that focus on US restrictions on advanced semiconductor exports to China and growing security ties between the US and China’s periphery such as Japan, South Korea, Australia and India.
To Chinese officials, US calls for renewed diplomatic engagement – including the long-awaited call between President Joe Biden and Xi – ring hollow in the face of what they see as increased hostility and provocations.
The high-level talks can only continue after the United States shows “credible sincerity with concrete actions,” Chinese state media said last week.
“The responsibility for the current difficulties in relations between China and the United States does not lie with China”, said Wang Wenbin, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry recently, when asked about the resumption of dialogue with Washington and the possible rescheduling of a visit to Beijing on Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, suspended following the appearance of a suspected high-altitude Chinese spy balloon over the continental United States in February.
“The United States must stop interfering in China’s internal affairs and harming its interests, and stop undermining the political foundation of our bilateral relations, while emphasizing the need to put ‘parapets’ to the relationship,” Wang added.
The Biden administration says it plans to set up “guardrails” to prevent a dubious incident from erupting in hotly contested areas such as the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, where China has conducted live-fire drills in response to Tsai’s visit. .
Without protocols or direct lines of communication, the risk of a accident it will remain high as US and Chinese forces patrol the region regularly, and often at close range.
Beijing sees the red lines as another form of containment because they would reveal to the US how far it can be pushed without triggering a military response.
China would prefer that its red lines remain ambiguous and leave Washington puzzled.
China suspended most of its military dialogue with the United States in August following a visit to Taiwan by former Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.
The Pentagon said last week that Beijing rejected requests for dialogue with the defense secretary, Lloyd Austinand the Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Mille.
Blinken expressed some optimism about the resumption of high-level talks.
“I hope we can go forward in this direction. But it is necessary for China to clarify its intentions in this regard,” he told reporters on Tuesday at a meeting of the countries of the D-7 in Japan.
Analysts say Xi probably believes he has nothing to gain by talking to Biden at this point, especially as negative views on China in the US appear to be becoming more entrenched.
“Xi clearly believes that compromise for its own sake is nonsense. The time for talks is over.
Instead, it’s time for Beijing to close the doors,” said Craig Singleton, senior fellow for China at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
“In short, there is no turning back, so Xi must now prepare China for a more tense future.”
Minxin Pei, a professor at Claremont McKenna College who studies Chinese politics, said Beijing could re-engage with Washington once it feels it has more influence.
This could come after Beijing deepens ties with other non-aligned countries, such as Brazil, or after it widens divisions in Europe over how closely to follow the United States in its tougher stance on China.
“China wants to engage with the United States from a position of strength, and China is clearly not in that position now,” Pei said.
“If anything, the success of the United States in rallying allies and waging a technological war against China demonstrates that it is still far more powerful than China and has more tools at its disposal.”
China is trying to walk a fine line between diplomatically snubbing the US and trying to persuade central bankers and investors that it is open for business again after years of strict COVID measures.
Yi Gang, governor of the central bank of China, met with the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powellon the sidelines of a meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Washington last week to discuss their countries’ economies.
It is also expected that the Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellenand the Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raymondvisit China.
But Yi also had complaints.
He criticized Western countries for diverting trade from China to its geopolitical allies, using the term “friend’s supportin a statement to the International Monetary and Financial Committee on Friday.
Chinese analysts say the prospects for Sino-US relations to improve any time soon remain remote.
The modest gains Xi and Biden made after meeting in Indonesia in November have all but disappeared after the balloon incident and Tsai’s visit to the United States, said Wu Xinbo, dean of international studies at the Fudan University from Shanghai.
“From China’s point of view, although Biden has shown a good attitude in Bali, he is firmly not willing to improve Sino-US relations,” Wu said.
“China believes that the United States has neither the sincerity nor the ability to improve relations.”
c.2023 The New York Times Society
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.