Almost all of the conflicts between Washington and Beijing were replayed this week. The atmosphere is extremely tense. What’s behind it?
Antony Blinken originally wanted to leave for Beijing on Friday: China’s head of state and party leader Xi Jinping was to receive him there, according to media reports. It would have been the first visit to China by a US Secretary of State in more than four years. But practically at the last minute, Blinken canceled his trip on Friday afternoon. Relations between Washington and Beijing have hit rock bottom.
“This week, almost all the conflicts between China and the United States were replayed,” wrote Christina zur Nedden, Asia correspondent for the newspaper “Die Welt,” on Twitter. The suspected Chinese “spy balloon” in US airspace “broke the camel’s back”. What has happened in the past few days?
Monday: Beijing blames the US for the Ukraine war
In an unusually clear form, China made the United States Montag responsible for the war in Ukraine. “The United States are the ones who triggered the Ukraine crisis,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told the press in Beijing on Monday. They are also “the biggest factor fueling the crisis”. By supplying Ukraine with heavy and offensive weapons, the US only prolonged and intensified the conflict.
A little later, according to media reports, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that China’s head of state and party leader Xi Jinping would travel to Moscow in the spring and meet with Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin. The last meeting of the two heads of state took place at a summit in Uzbekistan in the autumn. And the conflict over Taiwan also came into focus again on Monday: In a memo, US Air Force General Mike Minihan had previously predicted a war with China over the island in 2025.
Tuesday: Will Huawei be cut off from US technology?
According to media reports from Tuesday The US government is currently considering completely cutting off access to American technology for the Chinese Huawei group. A final decision has not yet been made, it said. But US chip companies such as Intel and Qualcomm have been signaled that their exemptions to supply some products to Huawei should not be extended.
The US government imposed sanctions on Huawei in 2019 under then US President Donald Trump. Concerns about national security were given as the reason, since the network supplier and smartphone provider could cooperate with Chinese authorities and the military. Huawei always rejected the allegations.
Wednesday: US opens embassy in Solomon Islands
Am Wednesday the USA announced that it would reopen an embassy in the Solomon Islands after 30 years. Beijing had recently expanded its influence in the island state in the South Pacific. In particular, a security agreement that would allow China’s navy to station in the Solomon Islands was taken as a warning sign in Washington.
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Thursday: US gains access to military bases in the Philippines
Am Thursday the US secured access to four more military bases in the Philippines. A corresponding agreement was reached during a visit by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to the island state.
In a joint statement, Manila and Washington said four new bases would be added to the 2014 Deep Defense Agreement (EDCA). Until now, the agreement has given US forces access to five Philippine military bases where troops could be deployed on a rotating basis.
China immediately criticized the expansion of the US military presence in the Philippines as a threat to “peace and stability”. It is an act “that endangers regional peace and stability,” said a spokeswoman for Beijing’s foreign ministry. The US “selfish agenda” would lead to an escalation of tensions.
