The meeting between US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Chinese President Xi Jinping will mark the beginning of a new chapter, says Ingrid de Hoog, sinologist and coordinator of the Clinkendale China Center. But he says don’t expect too much from it. “Both are rivals, this visit doesn’t change that.”

According to D’Houge, a ‘floor’ is laid under the relationship. ‘There has been a downward spiral in recent months,’ he explains. ‘The relationship between China and the US continued to deteriorate. It can be said that the bottom has now been reached and both countries are looking at the possibility of getting things back on track. That is very important.’

He particularly appreciates China’s approach, which has made clear through Xi and Blinken’s meeting that it wants to invest in improving mutual relations. “This is a positive result of this visit.”

Appointment

Above all, because Blinken’s visit was originally meant to address diplomats only. D’Houge thinks the audience was notified too late as a targeting strategy. ‘They like to keep a low profile and always check how such a visit is going,’ he explains. ‘Perhaps not all conditions have been discussed yet. But it was up in the air for a while.’

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Blinken’s agenda in particular provided space to plan the visit. “American diplomats would have known beforehand, but nothing was guaranteed when they went to China.”

‘little meaning’

Had the meeting between Blinken and Xi not taken place, in principle nothing would have happened, argues Paul van Hooft of the Hague Center for Strategic Studies. ‘It was deliberately set up so that if the conditions were not met, no one would lose face,’ he explains. So it wouldn’t have been a disaster if the meeting hadn’t happened. Nevertheless, this is a good sign as it restarts a process that could lead to additional visits by US diplomats.