Although the mutual relationship between the US and China may have cooled a bit after US President Joe Biden’s dictator remark, former China-US correspondent Oscar Garschagen doesn’t think the windows have been definitively busted .
Especially since both superpowers “are used to each other,” he says. However, it can be concluded that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to China yielded little. “The whole way Xi received Blinken didn’t show great cordiality,” Garschagen says. “In the previous weeks, Elon Musk and Bill Gates, among others, have been received much more warmly.”
Elon Musk and Bill Gates have received a warm welcome
For example, Blinken was to sit to Xi’s right, while the Chinese president sat at the head of the table. According to Garschagen, there was a formal setting, “separated by a row of lotus flowers”. “But that was it,” he says. The visit was also very short. Especially if you don’t count the translation, you get to fifteen minutes».
Reopen the dialog
Previously, Xi and Biden met at a G20 summit in Bali, where they agreed that the deteriorating relationship could not continue. “They thought it was too dangerous and wanted to talk again,” Garschagen continues. “Their margins on both sides are obviously very limited, and this was a follow up.”
Although the visit was postponed due to the crisis surrounding the Chinese spy balloon, in anticipation of the outcome, one can only conclude that, according to Garschagen, very little came of it. “Blinken’s efforts to reinstate the military hotline — which was suspended following a visit by then-US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi — have failed,” he says. “This is because Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu is on a sanctions list.”
Political game
Washington refuses to remove Li, a former general and confidant of Xi Jinping, from the sanctions list. And so it’s a matter of status and loss of face, thinks Garschagen. “All these kinds of atmospheric aspects naturally play a part in that.”
Source: BNR
Sharon Rock is an author and journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. She has a passion for learning about different cultures and understanding the complexities of the world. With a talent for explaining complex global issues in an accessible and engaging way, Sharon has become a respected voice in the field of world news journalism.
