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China, U.S. sent positive signal through Blinken visit: experts
CGTN

China and the United States sent a positive signal to the world of their readiness to stabilize bilateral ties through a visit to Beijing by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, according to experts.

Blinken wrapped up the two-day visit to China on Monday evening after having what both sides described as candid, constructive and extensive talks.

During a courtesy meeting with Blinken on Monday afternoon, Chinese President Xi Jinping noted that the two sides made progress and reached agreement on some specific issues.

Hours later, commenting on the first visit by a U.S. secretary of state to China in nearly five years, U.S. President Joe Biden also hailed the progress made in "one of the most consequential relations" in the world. "We're on the right trail," he said.

Sun Chenghao, a research fellow at the Center for International Security and Strategy (CISS) of Tsinghua University, said through the meeting and the talks between the two sides, China and the United States sent a signal to the rest of the world of both sides' willingness to stabilize the relationship.

"That is very important, positive and clear," Sun told CGTN on Tuesday.

The long-due visit by the top U.S. diplomat came at "the lowest point" of the China-U.S. relationship since its establishment in 1979, as Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang told Blinken in their more than five hours' talks on Sunday.

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As part of the follow-up to a summit between Xi and Biden on the Indonesian island of Bali last November, Blinken had scheduled a February visit to Beijing, a positive development only to be disrupted by an unmanned airship incident.

In the wake of the civilian airship incident, where the U.S. shot it down with the use of force, there had been questions about where China-U.S. relations were headed, said Sun, implying such concerns have now been alleviated.

Choi Shing Kwok, director and CEO of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) – Yusof Ishak Institute, a leading research center in Singapore, said Blinken's China visit was met with a "collective sigh of relief" in the Asian-pacific region.

"The fact that this visit has taken place certainly will help lift optimism in the region and the rest of the world," he said. "It is already something that is assuring."

Asia Pacific, a region seen as under increasingly more pressure to take sides between China and the United States, wants to see the two largest economies cooperate in such fields as climate change.

Nick Vyas, an economics expert from the University of Southern California, echoed the importance of coordination and cooperation between China and the United States.

"The U.S. and China, both respectively and collectively, have to understand that they are so much interdependent," he said. "There's so much synergy between these two countries for us to continue to work together, collaborate and cooperate."

It is not in the best interest for anybody to create the conflict, he said.

(Cover: Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang (R) meets with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing, China, June 18, 2023. /CFP)

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