U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Visits China
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in China this week to improve relations, discussing Taiwan and other controversial issues. It is the first trip to Beijing by a U.S. secretary of state in five years. Blinken was supposed to visit earlier this year, but he postponed the visit following the Chinese spy balloon incident.
Blinken referred to talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Sunday as “candid, substantive and constructive,” despite making no ground in disagreements over trade policy, human rights issues, the war in Ukraine, fentanyl production and Taiwan.
Taiwan, the main issue: Chinese state media reported about yesterday’s meeting, “Qin Gang pointed out that the Taiwan issue is the core of China’s core interests, the most important issue in Sino-U.S. relations, and the most prominent risk.”
Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory, despite the fact that the democratic island has governed itself independently since 1949. China frequently conducts military exercises near the island as an intimidation tactic.
In recent months, Chinese political and military pressure on Taiwan has ramped up as the U.S. presence in the South China Sea has decreased.
Today, Blinken met with Chinese diplomat Wang Yi. On the Taiwan issue, Wang said, “China has no room for compromise or concessions.”
Will China subjugate Taiwan? In 1998, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote in his article “Taiwan Betrayal”:
How could anyone fail to see that Taiwan is destined to become a part of mainland China? These 21 million people [now 23.6 million] are going to be forced into the Chinese mold; and it is going to happen for one reason: because of a pitifully weak-willed America.
China’s increasing dominance over Taiwan is one of the major signposts that America’s status as a world superpower is diminishing.
Learn more: Americans should be alarmed by China’s dominance of the South China Sea. To understand why, read “Where Is the China-America Clash Leading?”
