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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken prepares to depart from the Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport in Shanghai, China, April 25, 2024. /CFP

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken prepares to depart from the Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport in Shanghai, China, April 25, 2024. /CFP

Editor’s note: William Jones, a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN, is the former Washington Bureau Chief for Executive Intelligence Review (EIR) News Service and a non-resident fellow of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies. The article reflects the author’s opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to China on April 24 to 26 was an integral part of the new high-level diplomacy between the two countries, established at the Xi-Biden summit last November. The renewed visits give an opportunity for both sides to take stock of where the relationship is and to deal with any problems that have occurred in the interim period.

In this case, the issues that have arisen to affect the relationship, in particular, the more restrictive policies that the U.S. imposed on China recently in the area of trade, and particularly, high-tech trade, were far from resolved.

The mission of Blinken on this visit was to convince China to reduce its exports, on the pretext of so-called overcapacity, and to pressure China to reduce its trade with Russia in any area that could positively contribute to their military capabilities, in the U.S. view any area of high technology products.

Desperate over NATO’s failing efforts to stop the Russian advances on the ground, Washington feels that they may have enough leverage over China, because of their extensive trade relations, to force them to move away from Russia. In this respect, Blinken’s visit did not move that needle one centimeter.

This was made very clear to the Secretary by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who did not mince his words in saying that negative factors in the relationship are still increasing and building. He again warned that China has red lines that shouldn’t be crossed and expressed his concern that the U.S. had taken measures that were not consistent with the agreements that had been made during the November summit.

In their four-hour meeting, Wang said that the U.S. was taking endless measures to suppress China’s economy, trade, science and technology. These measures, he underlined, “are not fair competition but containment, not de-risking but creating risks.”  

In a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a formal setting. Xi reiterated the principles on which the China-U.S. relationship must be based. In reply to the attempt to pressure China in its relationship with Russia, Xi made clear that both parties can have their own friends and partners, and do not target each other, do not oppose each other, and do not harm each other.

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, April 26, 2024. /Xinhua

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, April 26, 2024. /Xinhua

Xi stressed that the U.S. must begin to see China’s development in a positive light, calling this the “fundamental issue” that “must be put right, for the China-U.S. relationship to truly stabilize, improve and move forward.”

At a press conference after the meeting with Xi, Blinken reiterated all the shibboleths that he had expressed in his meetings, i.e. no decoupling, no support for “Taiwan independence,” and no new cold war, but at the same time made clear that if China does nothing to restrict its trade in high-tech with Russia, the U.S. and its “allies” were prepared to impose further sanctions.

While Blinken tried to assert a strong pose in saying this, he was somewhat more nervous in doing so. While there is probably a consensus within his own administration about this matter, it is far from clear how much the U.S. can persuade its “allies” to move further in the direction of imposing sanctions against China, and thereby penalizing their own economies on behalf of U.S. geopolitical concerns.

Blinken was even more adamant in an interview with the National Public Radio after the press conference. China “is the number one supplier of the critical components for Russia to rebuild its defense industrial base – machine tools, microelectronics, optics and other things.” This has to stop, he threatened.

If the U.S. pursues this line of thought, given the state of the world economy, it could come back to bite the U.S. in many different ways, including the more rapid push by Russia, China, and the countries of the Global South to create a financial architecture that is independent of the New York-London nexus, and thus free the financial system from arbitrary manipulation by the U.S.

The ball now, however, is in the court of Washington.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at [email protected]. Follow @thouse_opinions on Twitter to discover the latest commentaries in the CGTN Opinion Section.)

A view of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., April 20, 2024. /CFP

A view of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., April 20, 2024. /CFP

The United States is the destabilizing factor that is undermining peace and stability in Southeast Asia, said Indonesian experts following the deployment of U.S. medium-range ballistic missiles in the Philippines and the two countries’ joint military exercise.

The Philippines has recently taken frequent actions in the South China Sea, “all of which are inseparable from the instruction and support of the U.S.,” said Bambang Suryono, president of the Jakarta-based think tank Nanyang ASEAN Foundation.

Washington aims to hinder China’s development and strength by actively trying to get involved in South China Sea affairs, he said.

“Most ASEAN countries are against the military interference by the U.S. in the South China Sea. Just take a look at the locations of the U.S. military bases, anybody will realize that the U.S. is the destabilizing force for peace in the South China Sea,” he added.

The territorial disputes in the South China Sea should only be resolved through mutual consultation among the countries involved in Southeast Asia and China, said Veronika Saraswati, senior researcher at Indonesia’s leading think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“Intervention by countries outside the region, like the U.S., will only aggravate the situation in the South China Sea,” she said.

She emphasized that the Philippines should play a more active and responsible role in maintaining regional peace, rather than aligning with Western powers and pushing the situation into conflict.

“It’s a dangerous and reckless move that the Philippines allowed the U.S. to deploy missiles in its territory. It sabotaged peace and stability in Southeast Asia, violated ASEAN centrality, and made ASEAN people constantly live in fear of war,” said Saraswati.

Johanes Herlijanto, a lecturer at Pelita Harapan University, said that Southeast Asia rejects any behavior that may increase tensions in the South China Sea.

His view is shared by many experts, including Djauhari Oratmangun, Indonesia’s ambassador to China.

“I believe that we must create a peaceful and enabling environment for our region so that cooperation in various areas can continue to improve,” said Oratmangun.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency

China’s Shenzhou-17 manned spacecraft separates from the Tiangong space station combination, April 30, 2024. /CMG

China’s Shenzhou-17 manned spacecraft separates from the Tiangong space station combination, April 30, 2024. /CMG

China’s Shenzhou-17 manned spacecraft separated from the space station combination on Tuesday, sending three astronauts – Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie and Jiang Xinlin – back to Earth, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

The Shenzhou-17 crew transferred the keys of the China Space Station to the Shenzhou-18 crew at a handover ceremony on Sunday. With all planned tasks completed, the Shenzhou-17 crew will return to Earth on April 30.

Read More:

China’s Shenzhou-17 crew completes handover, return set for April 30

Click here for CGTN livestream for the event.

An AI-generated Chinese-style peony wallpaper /CGTN

An AI-generated Chinese-style peony wallpaper /CGTN

An AI-generated Chinese-style peony wallpaper /CGTN

An AI-generated Chinese-style peony wallpaper /CGTN

An AI-generated Chinese-style peony wallpaper /CGTN

An AI-generated Chinese-style peony wallpaper /CGTN

An AI-generated Chinese-style peony wallpaper /CGTN

An AI-generated Chinese-style peony wallpaper /CGTN

An AI-generated Chinese-style peony wallpaper /CGTN

An AI-generated Chinese-style peony wallpaper /CGTN

Immerse yourself in the enchanting realm of AI-generated China chic peony wallpaper.

A woman shields herself from the sun on a hot summer day, Bengaluru, India, April 29, 2024. /CFP

A woman shields herself from the sun on a hot summer day, Bengaluru, India, April 29, 2024. /CFP

At least two people have died in the southern Indian state of Kerala due to suspected heat stroke, media reported on Monday, as the country battles temperatures soaring to record levels.

A 90-year-old woman and a 53-year-old man died in Kerala on Sunday, the Hindu newspaper reported, as temperatures soared to 41.9 degrees Celsius, nearly 5.5 degrees Celsius above normal.

“We are yet to confirm whether these deaths were due to heat waves. The medical process for examining the deaths is on,” state disaster management official Shekhar Kuriakose said in the state capital Thiruvananthapuram.

Scientists have said climate change is contributing to more frequent, severe and longer heat waves during summer months.

Temperatures across Kerala, at India’s southern tip, were expected to be higher than normal, causing authorities to issue warnings asking people to take precautions against the heat, such as staying indoors.

In neighboring Tamil Nadu state, a local politician was handing out fresh fruit, coconuts and cold drinks in Chennai to help people keep cool.

India’s weather department has predicted more heat-wave days than normal between April and June, when the monsoon will hit and temperatures usually fall.

In the eastern state of Odisha, where temperatures touched 44.9 degrees Celsius on Sunday, the highest recorded in April, at least two people have died this summer of sun stroke, said Odisha’s public health director Niranjan Mishra.

In neighboring Bangladesh, authorities again closed all primary schools across the country and educational institutions in almost half of districts, including the capital, as a severe heat wave saw temperatures climb above 43 degrees Celsius on Monday.

But for those who work outdoors, like rickshaw driver Mohammed Shameem in Dhaka, there is not much respite.

“It is too hard to work under the sun during a brutal heat wave. There are not many people who are coming out, which means getting passengers is tough. But we have no option but to come out and work,” Shameem said.

Source(s): Reuters

Staff member delivers goods according to orders at a warehouse in Lianyun District, Lianyungang City, east China’s Jiangsu Province. /CFP

Staff member delivers goods according to orders at a warehouse in Lianyun District, Lianyungang City, east China’s Jiangsu Province. /CFP

China’s express delivery industry saw robust expansion in the first four months of 2024. Express courier firms nationwide had handled over 50 billion parcels as of April 29, 32 days ahead of 2023, data from the State Post Bureau (SPB) showed.

Over 100 million express packages went through the rural areas this year on a daily basis, with the business volume surging in the central and western regions.

China’s courier sector is witnessing an intelligent transformation, involving the intellectual reconstruction of large-scale express distribution centers and rapid application of unmanned warehouses, unmanned vehicles and drones. 

The express delivery development index was 329.6 in the first two months of 2024, up 26.7 percent from the same period last year.

The sub-index for development scale increased 29.8 percent year on year to 407.1, partly thanks to the high delivery demand during the Spring Festival holiday. The sub-index for service quality grew 39.4 percent from a year earlier, and the sub-index for development capacity increased 7.1 percent year on year, the SPB data showed.

The index is compiled based on data from major logistics firms operating delivery services, reflecting the overall business activities and trends in China’s courier sector.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R), also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, shakes hands with his Argentine counterpart, Diana Mondino, in Beijing, China, April 30, 2024. /Chinese Foreign Ministry

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R), also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, shakes hands with his Argentine counterpart, Diana Mondino, in Beijing, China, April 30, 2024. /Chinese Foreign Ministry

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday said China and Argentina are good friends and good partners during talks with his Argentine counterpart, Diana Mondino, in Beijing.

China and Argentina are both major emerging economies, and China is ready to be a long-term and reliable cooperative partner of Argentina, said Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, during the talks.

Mondino is on a five-day visit to China that will conclude on Wednesday. This is the Argentine foreign minister’s first visit to China since she took office in December 2023.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of China-Argentina comprehensive strategic partnership.