World Power Shifts: Four Obstacles China Faces in Attempting Global Redirection

In a significant diplomatic move, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Beijing this week to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The meeting, widely seen as an attempt to strike a tone of detente, aimed to manage bilateral relations amidst geopolitical challenges and promote dialogue on issues like security and trade.

The discussion between Blinken and Xi covered key topics such as strategic stability, global economic cooperation, and tensions between the U.S. and China. The Biden administration has been working to tamp down talk of "decoupling" from China and has recently been walking back some economic policies toward the Asian giant.

However, China's leaders aired their grievances with seemingly little overt pushback during the meeting. Wang Yi, China's top foreign policy official, blasted "illegal" US sanctions and put the blame for worsening ties on Washington. The U.S., on the other hand, called the discussion a "candid and productive discussion."

The economic pressure to play nice with China has fallen considerably in the past decade. China has moved up the value chain, now making many more high-value components for the products it exports, particularly in the auto industry. This shift has made it more difficult to assemble a coalition to address China's espionage, mercantilist policy, and growing military might, which were issues that benefited the rich people in rich countries during the China gold rush.

The administration has not declassified intelligence about the origins of the coronavirus yet. Meanwhile, Micron Technologies, a U.S. chipmaker, announced a $600 million factory expansion in China, a move that could further complicate the U.S.-China relationship.

President Biden declared that the Spy Balloon incident this February was not the Chinese leadership's fault. Despite this, deep-seated economic factors may prevent a full reset to 2015 levels of cooperation between the two superpowers.

The friendly meeting between Xi and Bill Gates indicates a possible softening of relations between the U.S. and China. However, the future of these relations remains uncertain, with both countries navigating complex geopolitical challenges.

This article is part of a series on China. The weekly link roundup is delayed this week.

Stay tuned for more updates on U.S.-China relations.