Trip can help cement common ground on which to repair China-US relations: China Daily editorial

Despite being a reciprocal visit to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to China in June, Foreign Minister Wang Yi's ongoing trip to Washington is more than just diplomatic routine.

Wang has on his shoulders the task of stabilizing the volatile bilateral relations. Beijing wants the visit to help put the fraught ties "back on track". Something it has been constantly trying to do, despite the US side repeatedly seeming like-minded, only to then prove otherwise.

The two sides have differences over such dividing issues as the Ukraine crisis and the Palestinian question. But more fundamentally, Beijing is convinced Washington is doing whatever it can to contain China, while Washington on its part believes Beijing is doing everything in its capacity to undermine US global leadership.

Both sides are aware of the dangerous potential of the current state of affairs, and the need to keep the simmering tensions in check. Which is why they persist with the diplomatic dance. Wang's visit, to borrow the words of a US official, is part of the efforts by the two sides to "responsibly manage" their competition. The unnamed official was correct in saying that "direct face-to-face diplomacy is the best way to raise challenging issues, address misperception and miscommunication".

In his "in-depth exchanges of views with US leaders", Wang will convey China's principles and positions and legitimate concerns about China-US relations, as the Foreign Ministry spokesperson said. Likewise, the White House has said that during Wang's meetings with Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, the US side will focus on challenges, misunderstandings and misjudgments between the two countries, as well as potential cooperation where their interests intersect.

Wang's trip is seen as having additional significance as it is widely expected to be aimed at paving the way for a meeting between leaders of the two countries during the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in San Francisco in November. Wang's visit is nevertheless being interpreted as another sign of a shared interest in making it happen.

Wang met with visiting California Governor Gavin Newsom in Beijing before departing for Washington on Wednesday, and told Newsom his China visit is an "ice-breaking journey". A journey that he hopes "solidifies the foundation, sows hope, and opens up the future" for Sino-US relations.

Yet given how fraught China-US relations have become, it is a wishful thinking to believe they can be improved overnight. But considering the high stakes as well as high hopes expressed by both sides, there are grounds for hope that high-level interactions will at least be able to stabilize them, so that there is a solid foundation on which to repair them.