A woman hoists a Chinese flag near American flags.
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The meeting between U.S. and Chinese officials this week in Alaska is unlikely to make any major breakthroughs, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said on CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Wednesday.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will hold high-level personal talks on Thursday with Chinese Yang Jiechi, a member of the Communist Party’s highest decision-making body, and Wang Yi, the minister. of foreign affairs. This will be the Biden administration’s first high-level meeting with Chinese officials.
“It’s more likely that there will be a dialogue about dialogue, rather than providing factual problem solving,” said Rudd, who is now president and CEO of Asia Society.
Blinken, who is visiting Japan and South Korea – Washington’s two biggest military allies in Asia – fired a salvo against Beijing over Hong Kong, Taiwan, Xinjiang, the South China Sea and Tibet before Thursday’s meeting.
According to experts, these issues are likely to be a major topic of conversation as the two groups meet in Alaska.
Redefining the US-China relationship
Relations between the United States and China have deteriorated over the past four years as the Trump administration blames Beijing for a wide range of grievances, including: intellectual property theft, unfair trade practices and the coronavirus pandemic, which first broke out in China. has been reported.
The two countries are looking for a new strategic narrative to govern their bilateral relationship, which Rudd says has become structurally ‘more problematic’ as a result of the shift in the balance of power between Washington and Beijing. He explained that China’s growing influence has made the two superpowers fierce competitors in areas of trade, investment, technology, capital markets, influence as well as ideology.
“It’s competitive, whether we like it or not,” Rudd said. “At the same time, however, there are domains in every country that warrant cooperation, such as climate change, such as pandemics and, frankly, global debt management.”
Going forward, the two countries can identify these possibilities for cooperation, while also taking note of competition areas and the other party’s red lines, the former prime minister said. It could possibly prevent the competitive relationship from expanding into an open conflict.
Asia is a priority
President Joe Biden has said that his approach to China will be different from that of his predecessor, Donald Trump, and that his government will work closely with allies to push back against Beijing. Last Friday, Biden virtually met with leaders from India, Japan and Australia as part of an informal strategic alliance known as the Quad.
According to Victor Cha, senior adviser and Korea chairman of the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), the US has a good start in restoring some of the alliances in Asia.
“Quite frankly, for allies, Japan and South Korea, the United States has been speaking a language they really do not understand for the past four years,” Cha told CNBC’s Squawk Box Asia on Wednesday.
“All of these alliance relations over the four years were boiled down to how much money allies were willing to pay for American security, and that was it. Apart from that, these allies were seen as economic enemies and as burdens in terms of American power. Traditionally, they did not see them as assets of American power, ‘he said.
Rudd explained that the thinking in Beijing is that it will take the US a long time to rebuild alliances after effectively walking away from them under the previous government. But if Biden’s government ‘succeeds in re-establishing America’s position in the region and with other allies, the Chinese could face a more formidable challenge than they currently necessarily accept.’