US Secretary of State in China: Amiably Cool
Published in Frankfurter Rundschau
(Germany) on 26 April 2024
by Andreas Schwarzkopf (link to
original)
US Secretary Antony Blinken’s visit to China just a few days after Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s trip reveals that differences between the West and Beijing are only growing.
It seems as if it was arranged ahead of time. Whereas German Chancellor Olaf Scholz almost embraced the Communist Party leadership during his recent trip to Beijing, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken did not mince words in Beijing. But both strategies produced the same result. The differences between China and Western democracies are continuing to grow.
The most obvious case is the Russian war against Ukraine, where the People’s Republic is supporting Vladimir Putin’s regime in every way possible and, at the same time, does not want to participate in the peace conference planned in Switzerland. The same can be said for economic differences. With its over-production of electric cars, for example, Beijing is putting pressure on competitors in Europe and the U.S. and at the same time continuing to close its domestic market to foreign imports.
If relations continue to worsen, one will be happy if the two sides continue to talk at all. That’s not good news, not in the least for climate protection, which can succeed only with and not without China.
It seems as if it was arranged ahead of time. Whereas German Chancellor Olaf Scholz almost embraced the Communist Party leadership during his recent trip to Beijing, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken did not mince words in Beijing. But both strategies produced the same result. The differences between China and Western democracies are continuing to grow.
The most obvious case is the Russian war against Ukraine, where the People’s Republic is supporting Vladimir Putin’s regime in every way possible and, at the same time, does not want to participate in the peace conference planned in Switzerland. The same can be said for economic differences. With its over-production of electric cars, for example, Beijing is putting pressure on competitors in Europe and the U.S. and at the same time continuing to close its domestic market to foreign imports.
If relations continue to worsen, one will be happy if the two sides continue to talk at all. That’s not good news, not in the least for climate protection, which can succeed only with and not without China.
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