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Here’s what’s at stake in Blinken’s trip to China

The secretary of state’s China trip opens the door for dialogue, but Taiwan is still a major sticking point.

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Qin Gang — a positive step after years of escalating tension between the two countries and the first time a US secretary of state has visited China in five years.

Blinken’s visit signifies a desire from both parties to keep diplomatic channels open amid an overall trend of deteriorating relations between the two countries, particularly over trade, Taiwan’s independence, and China’s relationship with Russia over the course of its invasion of Ukraine. Blinken was initially set to visit Beijing in February to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but the presence of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon over the US dashed those plans — and caused even more rancor between the two nations.

Following the discovery of the balloon, which traversed “sensitive sites” over the US, as the Pentagon put it, the US canceled Blinken’s February trip to China and shot down the balloon off the coast of South Carolina. China responded by claiming the object was primarily for civilian use and calling the US’s operation to take down the object an “ excessive reaction .”

Over the past few months, relations between the US and China have been particularly strained, and conversations between high-level officials have been rare. That’s been changing on the civilian side, as Blinken’s visit indicates, but tensions over military issues remain high — and conversations between military leadership nonexistent.

In a phone call between Qin and Blinken Wednesday, the Associated Press reported, Qin insisted that the US should “stop interfering in China’s internal affairs, and stop harming China’s sovereignty, security and development interests in the name of competition,” seemingly referring to Taiwan.

The possibility of open conflict between the US and China over Taiwan’s independence has loomed large over the relationship in recent years, particularly as China builds up its military power — specifically its navy. Earlier this month, according to US Indo-Pacific Command, a Chinese guided-missile destroyer cut off a US naval destroyer , which the US deemed an “unsafe” maneuver during a freedom of navigation operation in the Taiwan Strait. That incident is only one of many close calls between US and allied militaries and their Chinese counterparts in the region, raising the specter of conflict due to miscalculation or miscommunication.

Qin and Blinken on Sunday met for more than five-and-a-half hours of discussion, according to the New York Times , though it’s not clear they made any significant progress in addressing either side’s concerns.

Each side has sincere motivations to engage in dialogue

Both the US and China are keen to reestablish high-level relationships; on the US side, there’s concern over the possibility of open conflict in the South China Sea between Chinese and US military forces. China, meanwhile, is eager to press its own “core concerns” and avoid US sanctions on its struggling economy .

“An important reason why China is resuming high-level dialogue with the United States is because it fears that Washington would significantly enhance sanctions and export controls against the struggling Chinese economy if the Biden administration saw no hope for bilateral diplomacy,” Neil Thomas, a fellow for Chinese politics at Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis, told Vox via email. “Beijing has more to lose than Washington from a breakdown in bilateral relations, especially if it leads the Biden administration to lean into economic containment of China. But Xi has to play tough.”

China’s economic recovery has flagged in the months following Xi’s “ zero-Covid ” strategy. Over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Chinese government imposed strict lockdowns to prevent the spread of the virus, which effectively shut down parts of the economy, too. Though the government abruptly ended the policy in December after a series of protests, the economy has been slow to bounce back , affecting businesses at all levels and across sectors .

Additionally, US export controls prevent companies from selling semiconductor technology to China, which has hampered sectors from defense to artificial intelligence development . Though China is attempting to circumvent that problem by building up its own domestic chip manufacturing industry , Chinese semiconductor technology still lags far behind US technology and faces supply chain, servicing, and scaling issues according to a March report from Reuters.

Ultimately Xi has to balance the appearance of his leadership for his internal audience — looking tough and protecting Chinese interests on the one hand, but not going so far as to completely alienate the US on the other.

“Xi has a personal motivation to ensure that US-China relations do not spiral out of control this year because he wants his visit to the United States for APEC [the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting] this November to be a success and show domestic audiences that he is capable of managing China’s thorniest diplomatic relationship,” Thomas said.

On the US side, Blinken reportedly hopes to secure Chinese cooperation in addressing the fentanyl crisis in the US, the Wall Street Journal reported. Law enforcement officials in the US claim Chinese companies are responsible for shipping the raw materials to make the synthetic opioid, which has contributed significantly to the US’s high rate of deadly drug overdoses .

Major aspects of the US-China relationship still need repairing

Despite Blinken and Qin’s success at relaunching talks, the two sides are still at an impasse when it comes to what Chinese state media called the “ core of Chinese core interests ” — Taiwan. China is adamant that the self-governing nation, which relies heavily on the US for its self-defense capabilities, belongs to mainland China and the two will be united under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.

Until 1979 , the US recognized Taiwan’s government as the legitimate government of China. Though the State Department closed its embassy in Taipei, the US maintains an unofficial relationship with Taiwan and provides significant military support to the island. The US and its regional defense partners often conduct freedom of navigation operations near Taiwan and in China’s maritime backyard, which China sees as a threat.

“The Chinese leadership will seek to broker a harmonious balance between powers that might well involve Chinese dominance of others, and that sees force and might as possible parts of the tools that can achieve and maintain that balance,” Astrid Nordin, chair of Chinese International Relations at King’s College London’s Lau China Institute told Vox via email. “Like most states that use or threaten to use violent force, the Chinese state will portray any use of force or build-up of military capacity as necessary because of others’ aggression.”

Even more critically, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has thus far been unable to make contact with the Chinese defense ministry, either under former Minster Wei Fenghe, or the current head, Li Shangfu.

Austin reportedly made an attempt to speak to Li at a defense conference in Singapore earlier this month, but Li rebuffed him. “The two leaders shook hands but did not have a substantive exchange,” Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said in a statement to Politico .

Li has been under US sanctions since 2018 for his role in the Chinese military’s purchase of Russian aircraft and equipment; President Joe Biden declined to lift the sanctions when Li was named defense minister earlier this year .

Over the past several months, the US has also increased military cooperation in the region, including with longtime partners Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines. The US has also made an effort to kindle new relationships in the region, as with a renewed security pact with Papua New Guinea last month .

China sees those relationships as a threat, though many nations in the region still have no interest in cooperating with the US — or at the very least, have as much of a stake in their relationship with China.

Li has said that China’s military is merely responding to provocation from the US and its defense partners. “The best way is for the countries, especially the naval vessels and fighter jets of countries, not to do closing actions around other countries’ territories,” he said at this month’s Singapore defense conference. “What’s the point of going there? In China we always say, ‘Mind your own business.’”

“Chinese leaders have long portrayed the US as the ultimate bad guy bully, against which the Chinese people need to band together, lead by the Chinese communist party,” Nordin said. “At this point in time, we have seen a trend of more aggressive and confrontational rhetoric from Chinese diplomats, which some have argued is a calculated career move after Xi Jinping was seen to reward such rhetoric.”

Despite the outstanding issues between the two countries, the promise of future dialogue sounds a hopeful note. “If there was one word I would use to describe the exchange, it would be ‘direct,’” a senior State Department official told Reuters after Sunday’s meeting. “Both sides expressed a desire to stabilize the relationship and prevent the competition between our two countries from veering into conflict.”

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International Edition

US does 'not support Taiwan independence', secretary of state says in China visit

A top US official said America will not support Taiwan breaking away from China.

During a high-stakes visit to China, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated the country’s support for the One China policy.

‘We do not support Taiwan independence,’ said Blinken in Beijing on Monday after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jingping.

‘We remain opposed to any unilateral changes to the status quo by either side. We continue to expect the peaceful resolution of cross strait differences.

‘We remain committed to continuing our responsibilities under the Taiwan Relations Act including making sure Taiwan has the ability to defend itself.’

Taiwan is a self-ruling island and sees itself as distinct from mainland China. Meanwhile, China views Taiwan as a rebel province and has threatened to annex it.

Still, Blinken addressed US concerns around rising tensions along the Taiwan Strait stemming from disagreements over the island. Earlier this month, a Chinese warship came close to hitting a US destroyer .

‘At the same time, we and many others have deep concerns about some of the provocative actions that China has taken in recent years going back to 2016,’ Blinken said from the US Embassy in Beijing.

‘And the reason that this is a concern for so many countries, not just the United States, is that were there to be a crisis over Taiwan, the likelihood is that could produce an economic crisis that could affect quite literally the entire world.’

Blinken spoke to clarify the US government’s position on Taiwan after rather confusing remarks by President Joe Biden on the topic. Biden has suggested a couple of times that the US would defend Taiwan if it is invaded by China, enraging Beijing. Biden’s aides at the time stepped in to say he had misspoken.

Biden on Saturday told reporters he hopes to ‘over the next several months I’ll be meeting Xi again’ to ‘legitimate differences we have but also… areas we can get along’.

Blinken met with Xi after sitting down with Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang and top diplomat Wang Yi over the weekend. He is the first US secretary of state to visit China in five years.

After Blinken met with the foreign minister on Sunday, the state department said the talks were ‘candid, substantive, and constructive’.

On Monday, Xi stated that both countries have ‘made progress and reached agreement on some specific issues’, according to a  readout  from the US State Department.

Blinken stated that ‘President Biden asked me to travel to Beijing because he believes that the United States and China have an obligation and responsibility to manage our relationship’.

‘The United States is committed to doing that,’ Blinken said.

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Chinese jets fly sorties over Taiwan strait in show of force as US delegation departs

End of secretary of state Antony Blinken’s three-day visit marks upsurge in military activity after period of relative calm

Taiwan has reported that a dozen Chinese warplanes flew sorties close to the island on Saturday, in a sudden surge of military activity just hours after the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken , left Beijing following talks with President Xi Jinping and top Chinese officials.

Before Blinken’s three-day visit to China , US officials had pointed to a period of relative calm in the Taiwan strait over the past few months, after years of aggressive Chinese military manoeuvres and threats, as a factor in improving US-Chinese relations since Joe Biden held a summit meeting with Xi in November.

While welcoming the thaw in relations and more frequent contact, Blinken had come with an ultimatum for Beijing, calling on it to stop Chinese companies supplying components and materials to the Russian defence industry or face new sanctions.

The US also angered China this week when Congress passed a supplemental spending bill with billions of dollars in military aid to Taiwan . At a meeting with Blinken on Friday afternoon, Xi is said to have become particularly animated on the subject of Taiwan, accusing the US of interfering in Chinese affairs and encouraging pro-independence sentiment on the island.

In his public remarks, Xi told Blinken: “The two countries should help each other succeed rather than hurt each other, seek common ground and reserve differences rather than engage in vicious competition.”

Earlier, China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, had warned of a “downward spiral” in relations if the US stepped on Chinese “red lines”.

Blinken said that while in China he had stressed the “critical importance” of maintaining peace and stability across the strait.

Beijing has often used aggressive military manoeuvres to signal its displeasure at any moves in Washington it sees as diverging from the US’s established “one China” policy of discouraging Taiwanese moves towards separatism. A 2022 visit to Taipei by the then speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, led to months of Chinese military manoeuvres in the Taiwan strait.

On Saturday morning, while Blinken was in the air on the way back to Washington, Taiwan’s defence ministry said it had detected 22 Chinese military aircraft, including Su-30 fighters, over the strait, of which 12 had crossed the median line, which in the past has been recognised by both sides as an unofficial border.

The Taiwanese foreign ministry described the sorties as “joint combat readiness patrols” with Chinese warships, adding that Taiwanese aircraft and ships responded “appropriately”, without giving details.

In the past, Taipei has scrambled jets and deployed naval vessels to demonstrate its resolve not to accept encroachment by the Chinese military.

Washington had been braced for China to ratchet up its activity in the strait, particularly with the approaching inauguration of a new Taiwanese president, Lai Ching-te , on 20 May. Beijing portrays Lai as a dangerous separatist and has refused to hold talks with him.

The Blinken team did not expect breakthroughs during his visit to Shanghai and Beijing, and was anticipating a backlash against the US threat of sanctions over support for Russia’s industrial base.

After the visit, US officials said they hoped that similar warnings from European countries – for example when Xi visits Paris early next month – would lead Beijing to recalibrate its interests. They pointed out that China had so far been dissuaded by international pressure from sending Russia weapons, and that Beijing would be instrumental in dissuading Vladimir Putin from any thought of using nuclear weapons in the conflict.

Much of Blinken’s interaction with the Chinese leadership during his visit was taken up by a mutual airing of grievances. The secretary of state told CNN in an interview just before leaving Beijing that the US had seen evidence of attempts by Beijing to “influence and arguably interfere” in this year’s US elections.

But, assessing the outcome of the trip, US officials pointed to the importance of maintaining dialogue after several years of almost no contact – a silence they said had heightened the dangers of a conflict breaking out by miscalculation.

As well as high-level dialogue involving the presidents and foreign ministers, communication channels have been re-established between the two countries’ militaries since the Xi-Biden summit in San Francisco, a connection Blinken sought to deepen on this trip.

The two governments agreed on Friday to start the first US-China talks on mitigating the risks of artificial intelligence, which are due to take place in Geneva in the coming weeks, and the two sides continued discussions with Chinese ministers on joint efforts to curb the production and trafficking of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, which Blinken noted was the leading cause of death among Americans aged 18 to 45.

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In Beijing, Blinken and Xi stress need for continued U.S.-China dialogue to avoid "any miscommunications"

Updated on: April 26, 2024 / 9:00 PM EDT / AP

Beijing — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping and senior Chinese officials, warning of the dangers of misunderstandings and miscalculations as the United States and China butted heads over a number of contentious bilateral, regional and global issues. Blinken met with Xi in Beijing after holding talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Public Security Minister Wang Xiaohong.

Talks between the two sides have increased in recent months, even as differences have grown.

"We are committed to maintaining and strengthening lines of communication between us," so that the two sides can prevent any "any miscommunications, any misperceptions and any miscalculations," Blinken said.

Earlier, Blinken and Wang also underscored the importance of keeping lines of communication open as they lamented persistent and deepening divisions that threaten global security. Those divisions were highlighted earlier this week when President Biden signed a massive foreign aid bill that contains several elements the Chinese see as problematic.

Their comments hinted at a long list of differences to be discussed, including Taiwan and the South China Sea , trade and human rights , China's support for Russia and the production and export of synthetic opioid precursors .

• Tiny piece of technology emerges as a source of U.S. tension with China, Russia

"Overall, the China-U.S. relationship is beginning to stabilize," Wang told Blinken at the start of about 5 1/2 hours of talks. "But at the same time, the negative factors in the relationship are still increasing and building and the relationship is facing all kinds of disruptions."

"Should China and the United States keep to the right direction of moving forward with stability or return to a downward spiral?" he asked. "This is a major question before our two countries and tests our sincerity and ability."

"China's legitimate development rights have been unreasonably suppressed and our core interests are facing challenges," he said. "China's concerns are consistent. We have always called for respect of each other's core interests and urge the United States not to interfere in China's internal affairs, not to hold China's development back, and not to step on China's red lines on China's sovereignty, security, and development interests."

Blinken responded by saying the Biden administration places a premium on U.S.-China dialogue, even on issues of dispute. He noted there had been some progress in the past year, but suggested talks would continue to be difficult.

"I look forward to these discussions being very clear, very direct about the areas where we have differences and where the United States stands, and I have no doubt you will do the same on behalf of China," Blinken told Wang. "There is no substitute in our judgement for face-to-face diplomacy in order to try to move forward, but also to make sure we're as clear as possible about the areas where we have differences at the very least to avoid misunderstandings, to avoid miscalculations."

The State Department said later that Blinken and Wang had "in-depth, substantive, and constructive discussions about areas of difference as well as areas of cooperation" and made clear that Blinken had stood his ground on U.S. concerns.

Blinken "emphasized that the U.S. will continue to stand up for our interests and values and those of our allies and partners, including on human rights and economic issues," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.

Blinken arrived in China on Wednesday, visiting Shanghai shortly before Mr. Biden signed the $95 billion foreign aid package that has several elements likely to anger Beijing, including $8 billion to counter China's growing aggressiveness toward Taiwan and in the South China Sea. It also seeks to force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform.

China and the United States are the major players in the Indo-Pacific. Washington has become increasingly alarmed by Beijing's growing aggressiveness in recent years toward Taiwan and its smaller Southeast Asian neighbors with which it has significant territorial and maritime disputes in the South China Sea.

China has railed against U.S. assistance to Taiwan and immediately condemned the aid as a dangerous provocation. It also strongly opposes efforts to force TikTok's sale.

The bill also allots $61 billion for Ukraine to defend itself from Russia's invasion. The Biden administration has complained loudly that Chinese support for Russia's military-industrial sector has allowed Moscow to subvert western sanctions and ramp up attacks on Ukraine.

U.S. officials have said China's ties with Russia would be a primary topic of conversation during Blinken's visit, and just before Friday's meetings began, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced he would visit China in May.

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Blinken says US 'does not support Taiwan independence' during China visit

Secretary of state antony blinken said the us has 'deep concern' over some of the 'provocative actions' china has taken.

Rep. Mike Gallagher explains risk of renewed engagement with China

Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher joins Fox & Friends to discuss Secretary  Blinkens surprise high-stakes meeting with President Xi Jinping.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated U.S. support of the "One China" policy on Monday, saying that the U.S. does not support Taiwanese independence following a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"We do not support Taiwan independence," Blinken said in a press conference on Monday. "We remain opposed to any unilateral changes to the status quo by either side. We continue to expect the peaceful resolution of cross strait differences. We remain committed to continuing our responsibilities under the Taiwan Relations Act including making sure Taiwan has the ability to defend itself."

"At the same time, we and many others have deep concerns about some of the provocative actions that China has taken in recent years going back to 2016," Blinken added. "And the reason that this is a concern for so many countries, not just the United States, is that were there to be a crisis over Taiwan , the likelihood is that could produce an economic crisis that could affect quite literally the entire world."

"Fifty percent of commercial container traffic goes through the Taiwan Strait every day. Seventy percent of semiconductors are manufactured in Taiwan. If as a result of a crisis that was taken offline, it would have dramatic consequences for virtually every country around the world," he added.

AMERICANS IN TAIWAN MOSTLY UNFAZED BY US EVACUATION PLAN REPORT

Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken pose for photographers in Beijing Monday June 19, 2023. (AP)

Blinken’s comment comes amid increased tensions between China and the United States related to Taiwan. Last week, Taiwan's air force scrambled fighter jets after a group of 10 Chinese aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait for the second time in a matter of days.

This month, the U.S. military released video of a close encounter between a Chinese navy ship and an American destroyer in the Taiwan Strait, and there have been several close calls between Chinese and U.S. military aircraft recently, including an air intercept by a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea in late May.

China considers self-ruling Taiwan its own territory and has raised the prospect of annexing it by force. The U.S. maintains informal relations and defense ties with Taiwan even as it recognizes Beijing as the government of China.

BIDEN CLAIMS SPY BALLOON WAS 'MORE EMBARRASSING' FOR CHINA, SUGGESTS IT WASN'T 'INTENTIONAL'

Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a news conference with Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan at the State Department, Friday, June 16, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

"We have no illusions about the challenges of this relationship. There are many issues on which we profoundly and even vehemently disagree," Blinken added. "The United States has a long history of successfully managing complicated relationships through diplomacy."

Blinken told reporters that the relationship between China and the U.S. took a "positive step" during his trip over the last two days and said his counterpart, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, agreed to visit Washington D.C. , in the future at a "suitable time."

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Blinken acknowledged that China did not agree to set up a crisis military-to-military communications channel which had been one of the goals of the U.S. heading into the meeting.

Chinese President Xi Jinping discussing the country's economic and social development at a political gathering in Beijing. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

Over the last year, the U.S. and China saw more than $700 billion in trade which according to Blinken constituted the highest level between the two countries on record. He reiterated U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's testimony before Congress last week that it would be "disastrous" for the U.S. to decouple and stop all trade and investment with China.

BIDEN ADMIN CONFIRMS CHINA SPY BASE EFFORTS IN CUBA, CALLS IT ‘ONGOING ISSUE'

"We are for de-risking and diversifying. That means investing in our own capacities and in secure, resilient supply chains, pushing for level playing fields for our workers in our companies. Defending against harmful trade practices and protecting our critical technologies so that they aren't used against us. I made clear that we'll continue to take targeted actions that are necessary to protect U.S. national security," Blinken said.

Fox News' Danielle Wallace contributed to this report

Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to [email protected].

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Breaking news, blinken ruffles feathers by stating us ‘does not support taiwan independence’ after meeting china’s xi.

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WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised eyebrows Monday, telling reporters the US “does not support Taiwan independence” after meeting in Beijing with officials including Chinese President Xi Jinping .

Blinken’s statement ruffled the feathers of many Republicans in Congress, who viewed the statement – and the secretary’s inability to re-establish military-to-military communications – as an inappropriate kowtow to America’s greatest adversary.

“Blinken flew to Communist China to appease Xi Jinping and state the Biden administration does not support Taiwan’s independence,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said on Twitter . “Why won’t this administration stand up to bullies and stand for freedom?”

The Taiwan issue is among the most contentious in the US-China relationship, with Xi making it his No. 1 priority to “reunite” Taiwan with China — though the island about 100 miles off the country’s southeastern coast has never actually been part of it.

Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.) tweeted that Blinken’s statement was a “dangerous display of weakness towards our adversaries on the world stage.”

“The Biden admin is giving China a green light to increase its intimidation of our ally, Taiwan,” he said.

However, Taiwan is not a formal ally of the United States – though the Biden administration has repeatedly said the US would come to the self-governed democratic island’s defense if China were to attack.

Instead, the US adheres to a so-called “One China policy,” which does not take a formal position on the status of Taiwan’s sovereignty.

What is the One China policy?

Washington’s “One China policy,” which has been critical for maintaining peace in East Asia since it took effect in the late 1970s, holds that the US acknowledges – but does not necessarily agree with – Beijing’s opinion that Taiwan is its sovereign territory.

Instead, the policy holds that the US considers Taiwan’s sovereignty status unsettled, and successive presidential administrations have held that the US favors no change to the “status quo” of relations between China and Taiwan.

However, the US also allows for its military to come to Taiwan’s defense should Beijing attempt to take Taiwan by force, something both the Trump and Biden administrations stated repeatedly as US-China tensions began heating up in 2016.

What is China’s position?

Unlike the US’ One China policy, Beijing adheres to its “One China principle.”

Though the names sounds similar, there is one important difference: The One China principle holds that there is only one nation of China, and Taiwan is part of it.

While it may seem like an idiosyncrasy, the Chinese principle takes a firm position on the island’s status, unlike the US’ policy.

Beijing believes in “one country, two systems,” meaning that Taiwan and other China-claimed self-governed areas may have a separate system of government, but are still part of China.

China regularly claims the US has violated the One China principle – while failing to mention the important differences between the American policy and Chinese principle.

Is Blinken’s position on Taiwan new?

The US has never formally supported Taiwan’s independence, so Blinken’s comments are not a surprise to those who closely follow Washington-Beijing relations.

While Beijing alleges that the United States supports the island’s independence with each senior official that visits Taipei , Washington holds that the current ambiguity in Taiwan-China relations should be maintained.

However, the One China policy continues to evolve with the competition between China and the US.

Will the US come to Taiwan’s defense?

Even though the United States – through its One China policy – believes in maintaining the status quo, the federal Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 holds that the US will come to Taipei’s aid should China use military intervention to force the island into submission.

“We remain opposed to any unilateral changes to the status quo by either side,” Blinken said. “We remain committed to continuing our responsibilities under the Taiwan Relations Act including making sure Taiwan has the ability to defend itself.”

To that end, Congress has been pushing the Pentagon to prioritize sending Taiwan military aid ahead of any potential conflict .

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last month said the Pentagon is working to supply the island with weapons using part of the $1 billion lawmakers earmarked last year to be spent on defense systems for Taipei’s military.

Still, the weapons packages are meant to act as a deterrent to prevent China from attacking Taiwan, as Blinken said the US “continue[s] to expect the peaceful resolution of cross [Taiwan] Strait differences.”

What could be next?

Members of the bipartisan House Select Subcommittee on Countering the Chinese Communist Party last month issued a “ ten for Taiwan” report laying out policy strategies lawmakers should consider to push back against China.

In part, it says that the US should pass legislation that would state its official position in a more straight-forward manner.

“[T]he United States, alongside its allies and partners, should publicly oppose any attempts by the CCP to resolve the status of Taiwan’s sovereignty by intentionally misusing, misinterpreting, and misleading others on the underlying purpose of … the United States’ One China Policy,” the subcommittee said in its report.

“The United States and its allies need to strengthen and better coordinate collective planning for how they will deter or would respond diplomatically and economically to a crisis over Taiwan.”

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US: No reason for China to react to Taiwan leader stopover

In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen speaks by phone with the Czech Republic’s President elect Petr Pavel in Taipei, Taiwan, Jan. 30, 2023. The Biden administration has been stressing to Beijing that an expected unofficial visit to the United States by Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen should not be used as pretext by Beijing to step up aggressive activity in the Taiwan Strait.(Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is putting out the word that planned stopovers in the United States by Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen in the coming weeks fall in line with recent precedent and should not be used as a pretext by China to step up aggressive activity in the Taiwan Strait.

Taiwan’s office of the president confirmed on Tuesday that Tsai is tentatively scheduled to transit through New York on March 30 before heading to Guatemala and Belize. She’s expected to stop in Los Angeles on April 5 on her way back to Taiwan. The office did not provide details of her itinerary while in the U.S.

Ahead of Taiwan’s announcement, senior U.S. officials in Washington and Beijing have underscored to their Chinese counterparts in recent weeks that transit visits through the United States during broader international travel by the Taiwanese president have been routine over the years, according to a senior administration official. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.

In such unofficial visits in recent years, Tsai has met with members of Congress and the Taiwanese diaspora and has been welcomed by the chairperson of the American Institute in Taiwan, the U.S. government-run nonprofit that carries out unofficial relations with Taiwan. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the planned stopovers—administration officials stress they are not official visits—are “business as usual” and consistent with longstanding U.S. policy.

“There’s no reason for China to overreact,” Kirby said about the expected unofficial visit. “Heck, there’s no reason for China to react.”

Tsai transited through the United States six times between 2016 and 2019 before slowing international travel with the coronavirus pandemic. In reaction to those visits, China rhetorically lashed out against the U.S. and Taiwan.

State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said “the unofficial nature of our relations with Taiwan remains unchanged.”

The Biden administration is trying to avoid a replay of the heavy-handed response by China that came after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan last year.

Following Pelosi’s August visit, Beijing launched missiles over Taiwan, deployed warships across the median line of the Taiwan Strait and carried out military exercises near the island. Beijing also suspended climate talks with the U.S. and restricted military-to-military communication with the Pentagon.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, has said he would meet with Tsai when she is in the U.S. and has not ruled out the possibility of traveling to Taiwan in a show of support.

Beijing sees official American contact with Taiwan as encouragement to make the island’s decades-old de facto independence permanent, a step U.S. leaders say they don’t support. Pelosi, D-Calif., was the highest-ranking elected American official to visit the island since Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1997. Under the “one China” policy , the U.S. recognizes Beijing as the government of China and doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Taiwan but has maintained that Taipei is an important partner in the Indo-Pacific.

U.S. officials are increasingly worried about China’s long-stated goals of unifying Taiwan with the mainland and the possibility of war over Taiwan. The self-ruled island democracy is claimed by Beijing as part of its territory. The 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which has governed U.S. relations with the island, does not require the U.S. to step in militarily if China invades but makes it American policy to ensure Taiwan has the resources to defend itself and to prevent any unilateral change of status by Beijing.

The difficult U.S.-China relationship has only become more complicated since Pelosi’s visit.

Last month, President Joe Biden ordered a Chinese spy balloon shot out of the sky after it traversed the continental United States. And the Biden administration in recent weeks has said that U.S. intelligence findings show that China is weighing sending arms to Russia for its ongoing war in Ukraine , but it does not have evidence that suggests Beijing has decided to follow through on supplying Moscow.

The Biden administration postponed a planned visit to Beijing by Secretary of State Antony Blinken following the balloon controversy but has signaled it would like to get such a visit back on track.

The White House on Monday also said officials are in talks with China about possible visits by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo focused on economic matters. Biden has also said he expects to soon hold a call with China’s Xi Jinping.

Kirby said “keeping those lines of communication open” is still valuable.

Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi met in Moscow on Tuesday for a second day of talks, the first face-to-face meeting between the allies since before Russia launched its Ukraine invasion more than a year ago.

The Taiwanese government earlier this month said that Tsai planned stops in New York and Southern California during an upcoming broader international trip.

AP journalists Johnson Lai in Taipei and Josh Boak and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed reporting.

This story has been corrected to show China lashed out against the U.S., not against China.

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US Sends Warship Through Taiwan Strait Ahead of Presidential Inauguration

TAIPEI/BEIJING (Reuters) -A U.S. warship sailed through the narrow Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, less than two weeks before Taiwan's new president takes office, prompting an angry denunciation from Beijing.

China claims sovereignty over democratically governed Taiwan, and says it has jurisdiction over the strait. Taiwan and the United States dispute that, saying the Taiwan Strait is an international waterway.

U.S. warships, and occasionally U.S. Navy patrol aircraft, pass through or over the strait about once a month.

The latest mission's timing was extra sensitive, given it took place ahead of the May 20 inauguration of Taiwan President-elect Lai Ching-te, a man who China says is a dangerous separatist.

The U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet said the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey conducted a "routine Taiwan Strait transit" on Wednesday "through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law".

China's military described the sailing as "public hype", adding it had sent naval and aerial forces to monitor and warn the U.S. ship throughout its voyage and "deal with it in accordance with the law and regulations".

"Troops in the theatre are always on high alert and will resolutely defend national sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability," the Eastern Theatre Command of the People's Liberation Army said in a statement.

Taiwan's defence ministry said that the U.S. ship sailed south through the strait and that Taiwanese forces had monitored the situation but observed nothing unusual.

Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying only the island's people can decide their future.

Lai, currently vice president, has repeatedly offered to talk to China but been rebuffed.

Taiwan is on alert for any Chinese military manoeuvres around the island in the run up to and after the inauguration.

During the past four years, China's military has massively increased its activities around Taiwan, such as by flying warplanes over the strait's median line, which once served as an unofficial buffer zone.

China says it does not recognise the line's existence.

On Thursday morning, in its daily report on Chinese military activities during the previous 24 hours, Taiwan's defence ministry said it had detected four Chinese aircraft crossing the median line, flying near to Taiwan's Penghu islands, which are home to a major air base.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Ryan Woo. Editing by Gerry Doyle)

Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters .

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Interview highlights

Blinken tells china it's in their interest to stop helping russia.

Steve Inskeep

Reena Advani

Taylor Haney

Majd Al-Waheidi

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at a press conference at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing on Friday. Stefen Chow for NPR hide caption

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at a press conference at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing on Friday.

BEIJING — Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded his visit to China with a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, urging more communication between the U.S. and China even as both men agreed both superpowers did not see eye to eye on a multitude of issues.

The secretary of state spoke with Morning Edition 's Steve Inskeep after meeting China's leader in Beijing.

The U.S. has alleged China is selling vital components to Russia's defense industry after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Blinken told Morning Edition that he warned Chinese counterparts helping Russia is against China's interests, because China wants better relations with European nations that see Russia as a threat.

"If China won't act, we will," Blinken said.

The top U.S. diplomat did not say how Chinese leaders replied in private. But in public, China's foreign ministry rejected the American's advice — saying that the U.S. is "hypocritical" to complain about China's trade with Russia while it aids Ukraine.

The exchange highlights the tense relations between the two nations — with their diplomats frequently being in the same room while not always on the same page.

The Secretary of State spoke with Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People, April 26, 2024, in Beijing. Stefen Chow for NPR hide caption

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity. To listen to the full interview between NPR's Steve Inskeep and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, use the audio player at the top of this page.

Steve Inskeep: I have followed China's public statements during this day of meetings that you've had. And the public statements are pretty pointed. China alleged the US has suppressed their economic development and said the U.S. attacked China's core interests, which is pretty harsh as diplomatic language goes. Was President Xi any different in private? Sec. Blinken : We had very direct, very candid, but also, in many ways, constructive conversations about two things. If you go back to the meeting between President Biden and President Xi at the end of last year, in San Francisco and Woodside, they agreed that it was very important, first of all, that we have these regular lines of communication. We had an obligation to manage this relationship responsibly, including dealing very directly with our differences, and also seeing if we could build areas of cooperation where it was in our mutual interest. Inskeep:

One thing you were focused on was trying to get China to stop giving aid to Russia's military as it invades Ukraine. And we can talk about China's attitude here because they've made a public statement. Their foreign ministry spokesman was asked today about ending aid to Russia and he said, look, we trade with Russia and you guys aid Ukraine. You're hypocrites. That sounds like a no, we're not stopping. Seemed to be what they were saying.

Sec. Blinken:

Here's the problem: What China's doing now is not providing weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine, as, for example, North Korea and Iran are. But it is the number one supplier of the critical components for Russia to rebuild its defense industrial base-- machine tools, microelectronics, optics and other things that are going right into a massive production of munitions, of weaponry, of tanks, of armored vehicles, which in turn are going into Ukraine. This is not only a problem for us, it's not only a problem for Ukraine. It's a problem for virtually everyone in Europe because they see this as helping to perpetuate the Russian aggression in Ukraine. They also see it as creating a growing threat to Europe's security.

One of the things that I shared with our Chinese colleagues is that at the very same time that they're trying to develop better relations with Europe, they can't be doing that while at the same time helping to fuel what is the biggest threat to Europe's security since the end of the Cold War. Now, we've already taken steps ourselves. We're prepared to do more if China is not prepared to act to curb this activity.

Inskeep : So you're trying to tell them it's in their interest to stop aiding Russia. But you also told reporters just a short time ago, "if China does not address this problem, we will." What power do you have?

Sec. Blinken: Well, as I said, you've already seen us take action against more than 100 Chinese entities with with sanctions, applying export controls. There are other measures that we're fully prepared to take. And as I said before, if China won't act, we will.

In October, the United States issued new regulations that denied Chinese firms access to the most advanced semiconductors and chips. How much has that one step altered the competition between these two countries?

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with China's leader, Xi Jinping, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Friday. Stefen Chow for NPR hide caption

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with China's leader, Xi Jinping, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Friday.

One of the things that we're very focused on is making sure that when it comes to the highest end technology, we're not in the business of providing or selling things that could be turned against us to undermine our own security. And so what we've done, as we've said, is to work to build a very high fence around a very small yard, because this is not about decoupling our economies. It's not about cutting off trade and investment with China. And as I mentioned a little while ago, we remain the number one market for Chinese products around the world, and there remains significant American investment in China. But when it comes to sensitive technology, we're going to be very, very sure that the most sensitive technology does not wind up where it could turn around and hurt us.

So while we're here in Beijing, we've been talking with a lot of people. And we met a university professor who said America's reputation has declined here, in part because of U.S. support for Israel in its war against Hamas. Then there was a headline in a Chinese paper today, "Chinese satellites detailed destruction to Gaza from the war." And it's been widely reported that China is playing up this conflict in the global south in many nations to undermine the United States. How can you respond to that?

Look, I can't—you know—focus on what they may be saying or doing inside of China. But what I can focus on is two things. One, of course, is what we're doing in the Middle East, both to try to bring this conflict to an end as quickly as possible in a way that allows Israel to ensure that October 7th never happens again, but also to do everything we can to protect the men, women, and children who are caught in this crossfire of Hamas' making.

When it comes to China, one of the things we actually discussed was the Middle East. And I've had, I think, six conversations with my Chinese counterparts since October 7th. I actually believe that China could play a constructive role in trying to make sure that conflict doesn't spread, that we don't see escalation because it has relationships. It has influence with critical countries in the region, including, for example, Iran. So what I'm focused on is trying to encourage China to use that influence in a productive way.

China criticizes US for ship's passage through Taiwan Strait weeks before new leader takes office

China's military is accusing the U.S. of playing up for maximum political effect its warship's passage through the Taiwan Strait

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- China’s military criticized a U.S. destroyer’s passage through the Taiwan Strait less than two weeks before the island's new president takes office and while Washington and Beijing are making uneven efforts to restore regular military exchanges.

Navy Senior Capt. Li Xi, spokesperson for China 's Eastern Theater Command, accused the U.S. of having “publicly hyped” the passage of the USS Halsey on Wednesday. In a statement, Li said the command, which oversees operations around the strait, “organized naval and air forces to monitor" the ship's transit.

The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said the Halsey “conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit on May 8 through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law."

The guided-missile destroyer transited through a corridor in the strait that is “beyond the territorial sea” of any coastal state, the fleet said in a statement.

“Halsey’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to upholding freedom of navigation for all nations as a principle,” it said. “No member of the international community should be intimidated or coerced into giving up their rights and freedoms. The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows.”

China's accusation that the transit was “publicly hyped” — essentially meaning it was played up for maximum political effect — has been standard practice when Beijing sees the announcements as a means of pushing back against China’s claim to some degree of control over who can pass freely through the strait. There was no indication the U.S. Navy had operated any differently in the latest case, nor that the Chinese response was any more vociferous.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it was fully aware of the destroyer's passage.

“Throughout the transit, the Taiwanese military was closely monitoring the surrounding sea and airspace, and the situation remained normal,” the ministry said.

The last such passage was on April 17, a day after U.S. and Chinese defense chiefs held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. Military-to-military contact stalled in August 2022, when Beijing suspended all such communication after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. China responded by firing missiles over Taiwan and staging a surge in military maneuvers, including what appeared to be a rehearsal of a naval and aerial blockade of the island.

The critical strait is 160 kilometers (100 mile) wide and divides China from Taiwan, the self-governing island democracy where President-elect William Lai Ching-te will be inaugurated on May 20. Lai's Democratic Progressive Party favors Taiwan's de facto independent status under which it maintains strong unofficial relations with the U.S. and other major nations.

Taiwan's military heightens its alert status around sensitive dates, such as this January's presidential and legislative election s, wary that China might use its vastly more powerful military to attempt to intimidate voters and sway public opinion in favor of Beijing's insistence that unification between the sides is inevitable.

The two sides split during a civil war in 1949, and as recently as 1996, China fired missiles just north and south of the island and held military exercises in an ultimately counterproductive bid to deter voters from backing candidates they opposed. Since then, China has largely kept a low profile around elections, favoring instead to curry favor with business groups and treat unification-oriented politicians and grassroots officials to all-expenses paid visits to the mainland.

Although the heavily transited Taiwan Strait is international waters and vital to global trade, China considers the passage of warships from the U.S., Britain and other nations as a challenge to its sovereignty.

China sends navy ships and warplanes into the strait and other areas around the island almost daily to wear down Taiwan’s defenses and seek to intimidate its 23 million people, who firmly back their de facto independence.

Taiwan's Defense Ministry said 23 Chinese military aircraft and eight naval ships were detected operating around Taiwan in the 24 hours up to 6 a.m. Thursday. Eight of the planes crossed the median line in the strait and entered Taiwan's air defense identification zone, prompting Taiwan to scramble jets and put coastal missile batteries and naval craft on alert.

In addition to sailing through the Taiwan Strait, the U.S. Navy conducts what it calls freedom of navigation operations in which it sails and flies in close proximity to Chinese-held features in the South China Sea, many of them human-made islands that have been 'militarized over the years with air strips, radar stations and other capabilities.

China claims virtually all of the South China Sea, a principal maritime highway for global trade, and reacts furiously to such moves, accusing the U.S. of destabilizing the region. It often shadows the U.S. vessels and planes with its own assets, demanding they leave the area immediately. The U.S. claims it has the right under international law to sail in the area and a U.N.-backed arbitration panel has tossed out China's claims, a ruling Beijing ignored.

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