Editor's note: The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken finally made it to China, engaging in crucial talks with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang. The diplomatic development came at a time when the China-U.S. relationship is at its lowest point, as Foreign Minister Qin pointed out to Blinken. While both sides agreed to jointly implement the understanding reached by Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden in Bali last November, the road to improvement of ties remains fraught with formidable challenges. CGTN's Sr. International Editor Abhishek G. Bhaya caught up with former CIA intelligence analyst Ray McGovern to understand the intricate dynamics shaping China-U.S. relations. The views expressed in the video are his own and not necessarily those of CGTN.

Edited excerpts:

CGTN: What are the biggest challenges to improving China-U.S. relations?

McGovern: As I see it, the biggest challenges are not to realize that China, like Russia, has a sense of existential threats around its periphery. That we may think that it's freedom of navigation, flights or voyages, it's not looked at that way by China. And the more we talk, and this is a good thing about Blinken going, of course, the more we talk, the more we should be able to understand one another's and each other's concerns.

Not only China, but Russia and the U.S. Once that's done, then we're back to a situation where even if the worst happens like the Cuban missile crisis, there are lines of communication. There are people who have talked to each other and can talk again and prevent the worst because that is an option here - the worst, okay?

CGTN: The dominant political narrative in the U.S. continues to portray China as its greatest threat. There is a bipartisan political support for policies focused on containing China. Where do you think this narrative comes from?

McGovern: Well, if you'll recall about a decade ago, when the terrorism war seemed to subside, and we were getting along fairly decently with Russia at that time, we needed an enemy. I mean, how can the military-industrial-complex flourish without an enemy? And it was then that [then U.S. President Barack] Obama and [then U.S. Secretary of State] Hillary Clinton said, ah, we're going to pivot to the east. That means we have to build up the Seventh Fleet, my God, we're in the pink. We're going to make lots of money on that. That's one part of it.

The other part I regret to say, in my view at, least is, racism – pure, simple racism. Chinese people don't look like most Americans. Americans are all too easily persuaded that, somehow, they're a little alien, they're not to be trusted. And this goes back to the "yellow peril" and people play on this, okay. And so the notion that China has to be our major enemy, well, that's constructed to support the arms dealers and the arms makers and to stoke this racism fear.

CGTN: Last month at an event hosted by The Washington Post, Blinken reiterated that the U.S. is in a competition with China, but also insisted that Washington has a strong interest in ensuring that competition doesn't veer into conflict. Is Blinken sincere when he says this?

McGovern: Let me cite the musical "My Fair Lady": [McGovern sings) "Words, words, words. What's the worth of words?" Words again. Now, if we're going to have ships provocatively sailing very close to Chinese shores, if we're going to have aircraft in that area, you know, that's what China has to look at. Those are not words, those are deeds. And so, it's very nice. Somebody told Blinken, look, man, don't be so hawkish for God's sake. Competition is good. Why don't you say you don't want confrontation, although your actions show that that's the result of what you're doing.

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