Ball is still in the US court to get relations on more positive track: China Daily editorial

The wide attention the meeting between State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing on Sunday has attracted from around the world speaks volumes of the common expectation of countries that the first visit of the top diplomat of the Joe Biden administration on Sunday and Monday will help thaw the frosty Sino-US relations.

Neither the United States allies nor those being pressured to make a Beijing-or-Washington choice by the Biden administration want to see the rivalry between the world's two largest economies spiral into conflict. Nor do Washington and Beijing for that matter, as the messages from both sides ahead of Blinken's visit indicate. Yet, given the current state of relations between the two countries, a tight lid has been kept on the expectations for any concrete outcomes from the talks.

Not only is there an increasingly longer list of disputes between the two sides, as a result of the Biden administration's actions, but also the necessary conditions to prevent new disputes from being fermented by the US and added to the list, not to mention resolve the existing ones, have yet to be established.

President Biden indicated on Saturday that he hopes Blinken's trip will lay the groundwork for a meeting with his Chinese counterpart later in the year, but as long as the US sees China as its No 1 challenge, viewing Beijing as an ideological foe, if not a threat to its hegemony, there is little prospect of a rapprochement, but only further entrenchment of the rivalry, even if such a meeting is arranged.

That being said, if the Biden administration intends to use the long-delayed trip of its top diplomat to peddle its "de-risking", "competition and cooperation", "guardrails" and "rules-based order" — all rhetorical veneers integral to its China containment strategy that is coercive, suppressive and bullying by its nature — none of the three objectives Blinken mentioned before departing for Beijing is likely to be realized: reopening communication channels, advancing US interests on specific concerns and exploring potential cooperation.

As for the "concerns" Blinken touched upon — the Taiwan question and the South China Sea in particular — the whole world can see which side is coming halfway around the globe to create trouble on which side's doorstep. And which side is using Taiwan as a piece on its geopolitical chessboard.

In short, it is the US that is blocking the channels for communication and cooperation with its actions. It is the US that is speculating on "concerns" that it has manufactured itself. It is the US that is trying to command the moral high ground to isolate China from the rest of the international community.

But while Blinken will have his work cut out to win back Beijing's trust, his trip need not be fruitless as he can gain a first-hand appreciation of Beijing's resolve to defend its core interests as well as its sincerity in seeking to check the deterioration in the bilateral relations. The ball is still in the US court.