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布林肯訪問中國 – 開欄文
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美財長葉倫訪問北京-Andrea Shalal
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看來中、美兩國領導階層終於了解:在口頭上、聲勢上爭個一日之長對各自的「核心利益」並無助益。解決雙方個別國內問題和國際疑難雜症才是共存共榮之道。希望在禁運、關稅、處理風險、和金融財務市場開放與管理等實質議題層面,雙方能逐步得到互利互惠的共識和具體協議。 Treasury's Yellen to visit China this week to expand communications Andrea Shalal, 07/03/23 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will travel to Beijing from July 6-9 for meetings with senior Chinese officials on a broad range of issues, including U.S. concerns about a new Chinese counterespionage law, a senior Treasury official said on Sunday. Yellen's long-anticipated trip is part of a push by President Joe Biden to deepen communications between the world's two largest economies, stabilize the relationship and minimize the risks of mistakes when disagreements arise, the official told reporters. It comes just weeks after Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing and agreed with Chinese President Xi Jinping to stabilize ties and ensure the two countries' intense rivalry does not veer into conflict. China protested loudly when Biden subsequently referred to Xi as a "dictator," but analysts say the remark had little impact on efforts to improve ties. The Treasury chief plans to tell China's new economic team that Washington will continue to defend human rights and its own national security interests via targeted actions against China, but wants to work with Beijing on urgent challenges such as climate change and debt distress faced by many countries. "We seek a healthy economic relationship with China, one that fosters growth and innovation in both countries," the official said. "We do not seek to decouple our economies. A full cessation of trade and investment would be destabilizing for both our countries and the global economy." The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, declined to give details on which Chinese officials Yellen would meet in Beijing. A second administration official told Reuters that Yellen was expected to meet the Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. Yellen would underscore Washington's determination to strengthen its own competitiveness while responding with allies to what Washington calls "economic coercion" and unfair economic practices by China, the first official said. One clear area of concern involved China's new national security and espionage law, and the potential implications for foreign and U.S. firms, the official added. "We have concerns with the new measure, and how it might apply, that it could expand the scope of what is considered by the authorities in China to be espionage activity," the official said, citing possible spillovers to the broader investment climate and the economic relationship. While no major "breakthroughs" were expected, Treasury officials hope to have constructive conversations and build longer-term channels of communication with China's new economic team, including at the sub-cabinet level, the official said. U.S. officials would also reiterate concerns about human rights abuses against the Uyghur Muslim minority, China's recent move to ban sales of Micron Technology memory chips, and moves by China against foreign due diligence and consulting firms. Yellen would also talk with Chinese officials about a long-awaited U.S. executive action curbing outbound investment in China in certain critical sectors, and "make sure they don't think something is more sweeping than it is or than it's intended to be," the official said. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal; editing by Ross Colvin and Nick Zieminski)
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亞太助卿論中、美關係--Cyril Ip
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克瑞騰布林客助理國務卿(亞太事務)是現任外交官,說話自然中規中矩。 只要中、美兩國政府高級官員及幕僚認清現實,在根據自己國家實力和尊重其它國家核心利益這兩個原則上,處理國際事務與雙邊關係,一切應該都好談。 外交畢竟不是混江湖,放狠話和搞小動作不與焉。 The route to better US-China ties is via a 'two-way street', senior American diplomat Daniel Kritenbrink says Cyril Ip, 南華早報,06/20/23 Beijing and Washington are jointly responsible for tensions between the two countries and fruitful relations will only be possible if it is a "two-way street", a top US diplomat said on Tuesday. Daniel Kritenbrink, US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, gave the assessment a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up a two-day visit to the Chinese capital. "The successful and responsible management of the China-US relationship will only be possible if this is a two-way street, it simply doesn't reflect reality and would not be reasonable to assert that all problems and tensions in the bilateral relationship are caused by one party or by one single reason," Kritenbrink said. Responding to Beijing's suggestion that tensions were caused by Washington's "wrong perception" of China, Kritenbrink said that was not the case and the two countries had a shared interest in stabilising relations. According to Kritenbrink, talks between Blinken and Chinese officials achieved the US' three objectives: to strengthen high-level channels of communication, to make clear the US' positions and intentions in areas of disagreement; and to explore areas where the two countries might work together over aligned interests. Blinken "clearly and forcefully" explained American policy during meetings with President Xi Jinping and other top Chinese officials. Chinese cabinet members, including Foreign Minister Qin Gang, were expected to visit the US too, Kritenbrink said. But after meeting Xi, Blinken said China was not ready to resume military-to-military contacts, something the US considers crucial to avoid miscalculation and conflict, particularly over Taiwan. Kritenbrink said Washington would continue to work towards establishing such links. The gap in military communication was highlighted in Singapore last month when Beijing turned down a request for a meeting between the US defence secretary and the Chinese defence minister at the Shangri-La Dialogue. The Chinese foreign ministry said at the time that the US was "clear about the reason why China-US military dialogue faces difficulties". "The US should earnestly respect China's sovereignty, security and interest concerns, immediately correct wrong practices, show sincerity and create necessary atmosphere and conditions for dialogue and communication between Chinese and US militaries," spokeswoman Mao Ning. Trade has been another major source of tension between the two countries, with a raft US tariffs, export bans and investment curbs imposed and exclusive trading blocs formed in recent years. On Tuesday, Kritenbrink also rejected suggestions that Washington was trying to decouple from China. "There is no decoupling strategy but America will of course pursue a de-risking strategy, but given the nearly US$7 billion in annual trade flows and the fact that US investment in China is at its highest level since 2014, I think it's quite clear what our approach is and is not," he said. Kritenbrink said the US would compete with China vigorously, but would responsibly manage that competition. "We are clear-eyed about the challenges posed by the People's Republic of China, and we are committed to advancing a vision for the future that we share with so many others a free, open, stable and prosperous world, with countries upholding and updating the rules-based order that has for years safeguarded peace and security globally," he said. Speaking at an event organised by the China Europe International Business School, Chinese ambassador to the European Union Fu Cong said decoupling was "neither desirable nor feasible". He also warned against exaggerating the "risks" that supposedly prompted a "de-risking" strategy. "We do not want to see de-risking becoming decoupling, just in another name," Fu said, adding that no countries should seek to change each other's social system. Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
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美國前駐歐盟大使評論布林肯訪中 ---- Gordon Sondland
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宋德蘭大使評論的標題(「類似張伯倫」)和下文中 ” Begging for meetings” 雖然有些聳動和尖刻,但在現實上,跟我用的「拜碼頭」一詞(《中國拒絕中、美國防部部長級會談》評論)異曲同工。 宋德蘭大使的盲點在於: 他在文章第一段所列舉的行為,美國政府都做過,只是「施者」和「受者」角色對調而已。換句話說,中國政府所作所為,正是「以其人之道還治其人之身」。以他這篇評論第二段的邏輯來說,美國跟中國的長期目標「完全一致」 -- 不擇手段的爭取國際優勢。 宋德蘭大使之流評論的「前提」和「立場」,如我所說,不過是: a. 認為「美國目前國力在全球仍然『唯我獨尊』」 (《防止美軍在西太平洋被擊敗五步驟》評論)之類的虛偽意識;見下文中的:”We must act like the global power that we are.” 以及 b. 認為「威脅『全球安全』」是美國政府的專利」 (《超音速飛彈簡介》評論)之類的虛驕;見下文中的:” We should not set foot in the country unless we are treated like royalty.”)。 真的是說大話也不怕閃了舌頭。 Blinken’s Chamberlain-Like China Trip: We Can’t Ignore Beijing’s Threat Any Longer Gordon Sondland, 06/21/23 We are, for all intents and purposes, already at war with China, although the Biden administration apparently did not get the memo. The war may not be a kinetic one — not yet, at least — but all the other attributes of conflict are in place: cyberattacks, intellectual property theft, the probing of our homeland by a variety of means, the spread of disinformation, the interruption of freedom-of-navigation operations and other belligerent acts, such as operating a spying station in Cuba just 90 miles off the U.S. coast. This means that China, in effect, has engaged the U.S. in everything but a kinetic war. The current set of offensive actions should be viewed as just as dangerous as a physical conflict, with such engagement shedding light on the moral center of the problem: What the U.S. wants long term and what China wants have no equivalence. Americans want what they already have: a peaceful, rules-based world where every sovereign country can make their own laws and live the way they want to live. China wants global hegemony and a state-run planet. The country’s recent actions have shown that there is no circumstance in which the United States and nearly all of its allies can ever square that circle. These two types of global communities cannot coexist. It’s one or the other. And those of us living in democracies know that China can easily have our version and thrive, but we can never have theirs. With this as our North Star, what must America’s next steps be? We must treat China as if we already are in conflict with it — but that rapprochement is always possible and is the ultimate goal. We must act like the global power that we are. We should not set foot in the country unless we are treated like royalty. Begging for meetings with their leaders is not a good look for the U.S. because it implies a shift in power that we can never allow to happen. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he went to China to “strengthen high-level challenges of communication, to make clear our positions and intentions in areas of disagreement, and to explore areas where we might work together when our interests align on shared transnational challenges.” He claims those goals were met. I disagree. What happened instead is that we gave the world the impression that we’ve ceded the upper hand to Beijing, with Blinken playing the role of a modern Neville Chamberlain returning from Munich with a meaningless agreement in 1938. Am I a warmonger or advocating a kinetic war? Of course not. But, unfortunately, our president’s mindset is that of the frog in warm water. We get comfortable and don’t notice that the temperature is rising — quickly. On his trip to China, Secretary Blinken failed to revive military-to-military talks with China and reopen a communication channel. He should not have tried. We should be aggressively advancing our interests everywhere and waiting until China asks us for a resumption. Now is the time for the United States to ask a question of our closest allies, particularly the European Union member countries: Are you in or out? Side deals with China, the desire for the next trade accommodation, do nothing to advance our interests or theirs. Western democracies need to embrace the idea that they also are in conflict with China and act in concert with us, showing little to no daylight between us with respect to our policies and our strategy. The less maneuvering room given to China, the more China’s behavior will begin to align itself with the collective free world’s views and not its own. When it doesn’t have a choice economically, the rest will follow. What the Chinese are doing — and doing well — is playing the long game; we, in contrast, are playing Whac-A-Mole. And part of that is because we operate as a democracy, where things change every two to four years, and that’s justifiably the price we pay for freedom. Our policies are not indefinite or continuous, while China can lay down the law and everyone there falls into line. China is constitutionally set up to play the long game. But we need to play the long game strategically and allow each administration to use the tactics of their choosing, as long as the strategy remains the same. We need to agree that we are at war with China and we always need to push back. The “how” can change, but the basic strategy cannot. At the same time, we need to subtly signal to our allies — through our largesse, our trade rules, our tariff policies, and other financial intercourse — that our China fixation must be our allies’ fixation as well, that our support is contingent upon it. When I served as the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, it became immediately apparent how powerful the U.S. and the EU were perceived to be when we acted with unanimity on any given issue. We need to do the same now, regarding China. Globally, we have fixated on the climate agenda. The goal of reducing our carbon footprint has pervaded every part of our lives in the U.S., as it has in most other countries. We must adopt that same attitude with China, in which everything we do is pushback on that country’s hegemonic goals, to stop its physical expansion for malign purposes, and to strengthen our offensive and defensive capabilities globally. If Biden saw China as a bigger enemy today than CO2, we would be on the right track. Fear of escalation and retaliation cannot be our North Star in any of these conflicts. We have right on our side. And we, with a little reprioritizing of our budget and our thinking, will regain the power to enforce just, global norms and thwart China’s ambitions. Gordon Sondland served as U.S. ambassador to the European Union, 2018 to 2020, and is an investor in The Messenger.
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習、布宣示將促使中、美關係穩定發展但中國回絕美方重要建議 -- Matthew Lee
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Blinken, Xi pledge to stabilize US-China ties but main US ask rebuffed Matthew Lee, The Associated Press, 美聯社,06/19/23 BEIJING (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met on Monday with Chinese President Xi Jinping and said they agreed to “stabilize” badly deteriorated U.S.-China ties, but America’s top diplomat left Beijing with his biggest ask rebuffed: better communications between their militaries. After meeting Xi, Blinken said China is not ready to resume military-to-military contacts, something the U.S. considers crucial to avoid miscalculation and conflict, particularly over Taiwan. Yet Blinken and Xi pronounced themselves satisfied with progress made during the two days of talks, without pointing to specific areas of agreement beyond a mutual decision to return to a broad agenda for cooperation and competition endorsed last year by Xi and President Joe Biden at a summit in Bali. And, it remained unclear if those understandings can resolve their most important disagreements, many of which have international implications. Still, both men said they were pleased with the outcome of the highest-level U.S. visit to China in five years. The two sides expressed a willingness to hold more talks, but there was little indication that either is prepared to bend from positions on issues including trade, Taiwan, human rights conditions in China and Hong Kong, Chinese military assertiveness in the South China Sea, and Russia’s war in Ukraine. Blinken said later that the U.S. set limited objectives for the trip and achieved them. He told reporters before leaving for a Ukraine reconstruction conference in London that he had raised the issue of military to military communications “repeatedly.” “It is absolutely vital that we have these kinds of communications,” he said. “This is something we’re going to keep working on.” The U.S. has said that, since 2021, China has declined or failed to respond to over a dozen requests from the Department of Defense for top-level dialogues. According to a transcript of the meeting with Blinken, Xi said he was pleased with the outcome of Blinken’s earlier meetings with top Chinese diplomats and said restarting the Bali agenda were of great importance. “The Chinese side has made our position clear, and the two sides have agreed to follow through the common understandings President Biden and I had reached in Bali,” Xi said. That agenda had been thrown into jeopardy in recent months, notably after the U.S. shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon over its airspace in February, and amid escalated military activity in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea. Combined with other disputes over human rights, trade and opiate production, the list of problem areas is daunting. But Xi suggested the worst could be over. “The two sides have also made progress and reached agreement on some specific issues,” Xi said without elaborating, according to a transcript of the remarks released by the State Department. “This is very good.” In his remarks to Xi during the 35-minute session at the Great Hall of the People, a meeting that was expected but not announced until an hour before it started, Blinken said “the United States and China have an obligation and responsibility to manage our relationship.” “The United States is committed to doing that,” Blinken said. “It’s in the interest of the United States, in the interests of China, and in the interest of the world.” Blinken described his earlier discussions with senior Chinese officials as “candid and constructive.” Despite the symbolism of his presence in China, Blinken and other U.S. officials had played down the prospects for any significant breakthroughs on the most vexing issues facing the planet’s two largest economies. Instead, these officials have emphasized the importance of the two countries establishing and maintaining better lines of communication. Thus, China’s refusal to resume the military-to-military contacts was a hitch. “Progress is hard,” Blinken told reporters. “It takes time, it takes more than one visit.” Blinken’s trip is expected to herald a new round of visits by senior U.S. and Chinese officials to each other’s countries, possibly including a meeting between Xi and Biden in India or the U.S in the coming months. Before meeting with Xi, Blinken met earlier Monday with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi for about three hours, an encounter that produced a harsh assessment of the talks. China’s foreign ministry said “it is necessary to make a choice between dialogue or confrontation, cooperation or conflict.” It blamed the “U.S. side’s erroneous perception of China, leading to incorrect policies towards China” for the current “low point” in relations. And, it said the U.S. bore responsibility for halting “the spiraling decline of China-U.S. relations to push it back to a healthy and stable track.” It added that Wang had “demanded that the U.S. stop hyping up the ‘China threat theory,’ lift illegal unilateral sanctions against China, abandon suppression of China’s technological development, and refrain from arbitrary interference in China’s internal affairs.” In it’s readout of the meeting, the State Department said Blinken “underscored the importance of responsibly managing the competition between the United States and the PRC through open channels of communication to ensure competition does not veer into conflict,” using the acronym for the People’s Republic of China. In the first round of talks on Sunday, Blinken met for nearly six hours with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, after which both countries said they had agreed to continue high-level discussions. Both the U.S. and China said Qin had accepted an invitation from Blinken to visit Washington but Beijing made clear that “the China-U.S. relationship is at the lowest point since its establishment.” That sentiment is widely shared by U.S. officials. Blinken’s visit came after his initial plans to travel to China were postponed in February after the shootdown of a Chinese surveillance balloon over the U.S. In his meetings, Blinken also pressed the Chinese to release detained American citizens and to take steps to curb the production and export of fentanyl precursors that are fueling the opioid crisis in the United States. Since the cancellation of Blinken’s trip in February, there have been some high-level engagements. CIA chief William Burns traveled to China in May, while China’s commerce minister traveled to the U.S. And Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with senior Chinese foreign policy adviser Wang Yi in Vienna in May. But those have been punctuated by bursts of angry rhetoric from both countries over the Taiwan Strait, their broader intentions in the Indo-Pacific, China’s refusal to condemn Russia for its war against Ukraine, and U.S. allegations from Washington that Beijing is attempting to boost its worldwide surveillance capabilities, including in Cuba. And, earlier this month, China’s defense minister rebuffed a request from U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for a meeting on the sidelines of a security symposium in Singapore, a sign of continuing discontent.
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習近平拒絕「中、美兩國建立軍方熱線」建議 - Laura Kelly
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Xi rejects US offer to set up military crisis hotline, Blinken says Laura Kelly, the Hill, 06/19/23 China rejected a U.S. offer to set up a direct military line of communication between Washington and Beijing, which is a priority goal for the Biden administration, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday. Blinken’s remarks came at a press conference shortly after he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, a rare exception to diplomatic protocol that signals the seriousness with which Beijing took Blinken’s visit and the relationship. But Blinken said although he “repeatedly” raised the need for the U.S. and Chinese militaries to have a crisis communication line to quickly tamp down tensions and walk back confrontations, “at this moment, China has not agreed to move forward with that.” Setting up a crisis hotline is a top priority for Biden administration officials, who have had their calls ignored in the wake of dangerous confrontations between Chinese and U.S. militaries. This includes close calls in the air and on the South China Sea, a rare Chinese naval provocation in the Taiwan Strait and officials in Beijing refusing to pick up the phone when the U.S. reached out after shooting down a Chinese spy balloon in February. Following his two-day visit in Beijing, Blinken said Monday the U.S. would continue to press for a direct military-to-military channel, and senior Chinese officials accepted invitations to continue high-level discussions in Washington, framing the visit as making incremental progress on issues upon which there are profound and vehement disagreements. “If we agree that we have a responsibility to manage this relationship responsibly, if we agree that it’s in our mutual interest, to make sure that the competitive aspects of the relationship don’t veer into conflict, then surely we can agree and see the need for making sure that the channels of communication that we both said are necessary, to do that include military to military channels,” Blinken said. “So this is something that we’re going to keep working on,” he added. “And as I said, there’s no immediate progress, but it is a continuing priority for us.” For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
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