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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken greets President Xi Jinping of China during the former’s trip to Beijing on June 19. (AFP/Yonhap)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday, his second day in China. It was the first visit to China by the US’ top diplomat in five years.

Blinken’s successful arrangement of a personal meeting with Xi makes it more likely that a summit can be arranged between Xi and US President Joe Biden in the second half of the year. Such a summit is essential if the two countries are to achieve stable relations.

China’s state-run China Central Television reported that Blinken and Xi met for 35 minutes at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing at 4 pm Monday. Xi sat by himself at the juncture of two long tables, with Blinken and other American officials on one end and Chinese officials including top diplomat Wang Yi and Foreign Minister Qin Gang on the other end. Occupying the seat of honor, Xi appeared to be presiding over the meeting.

When then-US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Xi in Beijing in June 2018, the two sat together at a round table. In comparison, the seating arrangement at Blinken’s meeting with Xi seems to underscore the obvious difference in rank between the two men and the deterioration of US-China relations.

Pompeo had visited China at the time to report the results of then President Donald Trump’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

According to a document released Monday by China’s Foreign Ministry, Xi made the following remark to Blinken during their meeting. “Whether the two countries can find the right way to get along bears on the future and destiny of humanity. Planet Earth is big enough to accommodate the respective development and common prosperity of China and the United States.”

“The international community is generally concerned about the current state of China-U.S. relations. It does not want to see conflict or confrontation between China and the United States or choose sides between the two countries. It expects the two countries to coexist in peace and have friendly and cooperative relations,” Xi went on. “[M]ajor-country competition does not represent the trend of the times, still less can it solve America’s own problems or the challenges facing the world.”

Xi seemed to be saying that the US and China can coexist without confrontation and can cooperate toward that end. Xi went on to voice his hope to see “a sound and steady China-US relationship” through the implementation of the agreements he reached with Biden in Bali, Indonesia, in November 2022.

President Xi Jinping sat at the head of the table during his June 19 meeting with US representatives, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US officials on one side and Chinese officials on the other. (Reuters/Yonhap)

China’s Foreign Ministry reported on the remarks that Blinken made while greeting the Chinese president. Blinken reportedly said that the US is focused on returning to the negotiating schedule the two leaders confirmed during their meeting in Bali, while explaining that the US does not want another Cold War or a change of the Chinese system, is not strengthening alliance relationships directed at China, does not support Taiwanese independence and has no desire to clash with China.

In a press conference at the US Embassy to China following his meeting with Xi, Blinken called on China to do its part to resolve the North Korean nuclear and missile issues and noted that the US had received assurances that China would not provide lethal weapons to Russia.

Blinken’s visit to China confirms that both Biden and Xi are willing to engage in dialogue, sparking interest in the two countries’ next moves. Biden told reporters on Saturday that he hopes to get a chance to sit down with Xi for a conversation within the next few months.

In fact, the two leaders will have two opportunities for a face-to-face meeting in the second half of the year. There’s the Group of 20 summit, which will be held in New Delhi, India, in September, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which will be held in San Francisco in November. Blinken may have used the meeting to suggest that Xi visit the US this November. His last trip to the US was in 2017.

Prior to his meeting with Xi, Blinken had a three-hour discussion with Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, beginning at 9:30 am.

According to a document released by China’s Foreign Ministry, Wang detailed for Blinken China’s dissatisfaction with the US’ policy of pressuring China with economic sanctions and semiconductor export controls and with its stance on the Taiwan question, which China considers the most critical of its core interests.

China’s Foreign Ministry reported that Blinken said the US looks forward to strengthening communication with China and to cooperating in areas where the two countries’ interests coincide.

China’s Foreign Ministry released another document following Blinken’s meeting with Foreign Minister Qin Gang the previous day. That document said the two countries had agreed to carry out the agreements reached in their summit in November 2022, arrange a reciprocal visit to the US by Qin, hold deliberations in a joint working group to address specific bilateral issues, expand cultural and educational exchanges, increase passenger air service and promote exchanges between students and between businesspeople.

By Choi Hyun-june, Beijing correspondent

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]