Speaking with reporters at the U.S. Embassy here after Monday's talks, Blinken stressed the importance of military-to-military communication and said he raised the issue at every meeting during his visit.
"At this moment, China has not agreed to move forward with that," he said. But Xi, who leads China's military as chairman of the Central Military Commission, likely refused to give the nod.
The meeting at the Great Hall of the People took place at an unusual U-shaped table, with Xi alone at the head and U.S. and Chinese officials lined up on each side -- including Blinken, who sat to his right.
Xi's last meeting in Beijing with an American secretary of state -- Mike Pompeo, in June 2018 -- seated side by side with a table between them. Even Xi's meeting on Friday with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates used a similar arrangement, underscoring that Blinken's seating was an outlier.
The differing treatment was foreshadowed by the Chinese Foreign Ministry's statement June 14 announcing Blinken's trip, which said the visit was "as agreed between China and the U.S." A similar statement for Pompeo noted explicitly that the secretary of state had been invited by then-counterpart Wang Yi.
Anonymous
4 comments:
Both Honduras President Xiomara Castro and Palestine President Mahmud Abbas received red carpet welcome and treatment during their visit to Beijing. The friendship displayed was unrestrained.
As I said earlier, the visit of Blinken to Beijing was a smokescreen, just to show the world that the USA was going for a mission of peace, an attempt to earn them political mileage in the eyes of the world, but the reality was diametrically different. Right after that, barely conscious Biden opened his big mouth to call Xi a 'dictator'. Is that the sign of a country that wants to talk peace? Forked tongue snakes are not to be trusted, the moment heads are turned.
Visitors from Honduras and Palestine are Presidents, whereas Blinken is just a Secretary, so no need red carpet for the American. He already lucky can shake his hand with Xi.
Right. Blinken was even blasted by Chinese Junior Ministers in Anchorage Alaska. What respect does he deserve in Beijing?
Xi is alredy giving him face by meeting him, so as not to embarrass him in front of the world. But Xi was backstabbed immediately by Biden calling him a 'dictator'. This is going to be a long standing affront which the Chinese unlikely to forget, just like Mohammed bin Salman being called a 'pariah' by Biden. No more is MBS going to listen to Biden's plea to increase oil production. He is doing the exact opposite.
The USA's inflation is not going to go down that fast without the USA controlling the Middle Eastern oil producers, particularly Saudi Arabia. They Fed knows this and is telling the obvious that rate hikes are not over. And with that, the banking crisis is not over either, even though they may claim that the USA banking system is robust.
When Biden called MBS a pariah, he closed the book on the USA. It was the final nail in the coffin of US Saudi relations.
Would China learn from the Saudis and close the book on the USA?
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