Xi Focus-Explainer: Key messages from Xi's meeting with Blinken

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing, capital of China, June 19, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Ye)

BEIJING, June 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday.

The meeting took place at a critical time for China-U.S. relations and was closely watched by the world.

What key messages did the meeting convey? A look at Xi's remarks during the meeting will offer some hints.

SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY

Xi told Blinken that the two countries should act with a sense of responsibility for history, people and the world, and handle China-U.S. relations properly.

China-U.S. relationship had hit obstacles when Blinken made the visit. Xi's meeting with him and the emphasis Xi placed on responsibility have demonstrated the Chinese side's broad-mindedness, broad vision, and great sense of responsibility.

To be responsible for history, one should understand that "whether the two countries can find the right way to get along bears on the future and destiny of humanity," Xi told Blinken.

The most important event in international relations over the past 50 years was the resumption and development of China-U.S. relations, which has benefited the two countries and the whole world, Xi once noted, adding that the most important event in international relations in the coming 50 years will be for China and the United States to find the right way to get along.

To be responsible for the people, one should understand that "the Chinese, like the Americans, are dignified, confident and self-reliant people, and they both have the right to pursue a better life," Xi said.

The sound and stable growth of bilateral relations serves the fundamental interests of the two peoples.

The international community is generally concerned about the current state of China-U.S. relations. It does not want to see conflict or confrontation between China and the United States or choose sides between the two countries. It expects the two countries to coexist in peace and have friendly and cooperative relations. It is imperative to understand this for one to be responsible for the world.

The U.S. side should understand that to draw ideological boundaries, divide camps and engage in bloc confrontations is bound to bring disasters to the world.

MAJOR-COUNTRY COMPETITION AGAINST TREND OF TIMES

Xi stressed that major-country competition does not represent the trend of the times, still less can it solve the United States' own problems or the challenges facing the world.

The trend of the world, as Xi once pointed out, is unequivocal. It is the trend of peace, development and win-win cooperation.

For some time, China-U.S. relations have nosedived to a low point. The root cause is that the U.S. side does not have a clear understanding of the trend of history, but sticks to a misconception about China, which had led to misguided China policies.

The old system of colonialism and hegemonism will not operate in today's world. It can only lead to a dead end. The only alternative is peaceful development, a path that China has been unswervingly committed to.

As Xi said to Blinken, planet Earth is big enough to accommodate the respective development and common prosperity of the world's two largest economies.

"China respects U.S. interests and does not seek to challenge or displace it. In the same vein, the United States needs to respect China and must not hurt China's legitimate rights and interests," Xi said.

China always hopes to see a sound and steady China-U.S. relationship and believes that the two major countries can overcome various difficulties and find the right way to get along based on mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, Xi added.

TURN POSITIVE STATEMENTS INTO ACTIONS

Action speaks louder than words. China is looking forward to the U.S. actions.

In his meeting with Blinken, Xi called on the U.S. side to adopt a rational and pragmatic attitude and work with China in the same direction.

He noted that the two sides need to remain committed to the common understandings he and President Joe Biden had reached in Bali, Indonesia, last year, and translate the positive statements into actions so as to stabilize and improve China-U.S. relations.

In response, Blinken said the United States is committed to returning to the agenda set by the two presidents in Bali.

The United States stands by the commitments made by President Biden, namely the United States does not seek a new Cold War, it does not seek to change China's system, its alliances are not directed at China, it does not support "Taiwan independence," and it does not seek conflict with China, said Blinken.

While China has a clear-cut answer to the question "whether China and the United States can properly deal with their relations," the ball is now in the U.S. court. The world will wait and see. ■