BEIJING: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Thursday on the United States and China to manage their differences “responsibly” as he landed in Beijing for tough talks with the rival power’s leaders.

Blinken is expected to address a range of thorny issues including Chinese support for Russia and its treatment of Taiwan, with China likely to raise trade concerns such as new US action against popular social media app TikTok. Blinken headed straight to a closed-door gathering with leading Chinese scholars on Thursday.

On Friday a full day of talks with China’s political leadership is planned, including a possible meeting with President Xi Jinping. Blinken arrived from Shanghai, where the top US diplomat attempted a charm offensive that saw him sample local food, watch a basketball game and stroll along the city’s famous Bund promenade.

Visiting the local Communist Party leader in a room with sweeping views of the Shanghai skyline, Blinken said US President Joe Biden was committed to “direct and sustained” dialogue between the world’s two largest economies after years of mounting tension.

“I think it’s important to underscore the value — in fact, the necessity — of direct engagement, of speaking to each other, laying out our differences, which are real, seeking to work through them,” Blinken said.

“We have an obligation for our people — indeed an obligation to the world — to manage the relationship between our two countries responsibly.” The Chinese Commu­nist Party secretary for Shanghai, Chen Jining, welcomed Blinken partly in English and spoke of the importance of US businesses to the city.

“Whether we choose cooperation or confrontation affects the well-being of both peoples, both countries and the future of humanity,” Chen told him. Blinken also met students at the Shanghai campus of New York University, where he voiced hope for more Americans to study in China. He insisted the United States was committed to welcoming Chinese students.

Beijing has repeatedly alleged that Chinese nationals with valid travel documents, including students, have been subject to aggressive interrogations and deportations at US airports.

“President Biden and President Xi are determined to strengthen our people-to-people ties,” Blinken said. He also met US business leaders, telling them that the two countries needed to make sure the “economic relationship is working in the ways that it should work to mutual benefit”.

Blinken, the first US secretary of state to visit Shanghai in 14 years, opened his visit on Wednesday evening at a restaurant serving steamed buns before going to watch a basketball match between the Shanghai Sharks and the Zhejiang Golden Bulls. Such softer diplomacy, once a staple of US-China relations, would have been unimaginable until recently, with hawks in both countries speaking of an emerging new Cold War.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2024