South China Sea tensions force US and Beijing to talk more

Despite their” controversial and competitive” marriage, the US ambassador to China has told the BBC that Washington and Beijing are speaking to avoid a fight in the South China Sea more frequently.

” Our forces are conducting operations in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait pretty closely together.” You do n’t want to send the wrong message, Nicholas Burns said in a conversation with reporters in Beijing earlier this week.

The South China Sea has become a dangerous battlefield, where Beijing’s states are ratcheting up hostilities with Taiwan and Philippines, as well as their most powerful alliance, the US.

Chinese and Spanish vessels have recently been engaged in a tricky cat and mouse sport in the disputed waters. The most recent incident, reported this week, reportedly involved Foreign coastguard personnel boarding a Asian vessel and attacking soldiers with swords and knives.

The US has consistently pledged to support its allies ‘ right in the South China Sea, putting up military relationships from Manila to Tokyo.

This has strained China’s relationship deeper, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Chinese claims to self-rule Taiwan, and trade disputes were all at stake.

Mr Burns said these were outposts that still” fully divided” the two sides, but it was essential to try to “get individuals up” where possible.

” The Taiwanese have agreed to improve our military-to-military connections,” said the president. You want to have contact because the last point we want is an incident, a misunderstanding that leads to conflict”, said the 68- year- ancient diplomat.

Although the conflict has subsided, the upcoming US national poll has the ability to sever the bond once more.

” We’ve warned the Chinese not to include themselves in our election in any way, shape or form”, Mr Burns said, adding that the US was “very concerned” about the prospect.

FBI authorities earlier this year predicted that China would likely continue to try to stoke divisions and may aid in the spread of propaganda online.

The FBI even had” digital anger by Chinese specialists” against the US, according to the adviser. Beijing has often refuted claims that it engaged in state-sponsored cyber warfare and claims to be a sufferer of this crime.

Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump are trying to be hard on Beijing, and both believe that this approach will be successful. President Biden made a slew of new taxes on Chinese-made electric vehicles, solar panel, and other items in May. Ambassador Burns denied that local politicians had contributed to the lack of electric vehicles hitting US coasts.

He claimed that this was an “economic move” meant to prevent American jobs. Nevertheless, China has warned it may retaliate with tariffs of its own.

Despite the conflict, there are some positive aspects.

Before settling down for our meeting, Mr. Burns met with China’s environment minister as the world’s two biggest polluters work to find ways to lower their harmful emissions.

Washington and Beijing are also holding what Mr. Burns called “high-level discussions” to stop the drug fentanyl from reaching US shores, which they described as” critical.”

Most of his meetings take place at a governmental level, and President Xi’s guests are usually invited to meetings with senior US leaders, quite as Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Both factors have likewise vowed to work towards more “people- to- folks” markets. This is in response to the decline in US student enrollment in China, which was between 15, 000 and 800 in 2011.

In the next five years, Mr. Xi hopes to open the door for 50, 000 National students to study in China. On a trip to San Francisco in November, he claimed that it was the “ultimate desire of our two citizens for exchanges and participation.”

However, Ambassador Burns claimed that parts of the Chinese government are n’t taking these warm thoughts seriously:” Since the San Francisco mountain, there have been 61 separate instances when the security forces or a government department have prevented Chinese people from participating in public diplomacy programs at this house, at our military, or they have prevented citizens from traveling to the US to participate in joint trips. So it has been very difficult for us to take people together.”

On the other hand, US border officials have reported unfair treatment of Chinese academics and students. Beijing’s embassy in Washington lodged a formal protest and accused US authorities of “unwarrantedly” interrogating, harassing, cancelling the visas of and even deporting several students from China with valid travel permits upon their arrival in the US.

Washington has also placed a “level 3” travel advisory on China urging visitors to “reconsider” their travel. Mr Burns denied this alert was contradictory to a US plea to “bring people together”, but was rather a precaution.

” There are Americans imprisoned here who we believe are wrongfully detained, wrongfully prosecuted, I’ve been visiting these prisoners and we want them released”. He claimed that several Americans had their passports confiscated at the airport and had been “exit bans” by China.

China has removed the US from a list of nations that are exempt from visas for up to 15 days of travel; Australia is included after Beijing’s recent ties with Canberra.

Perhaps the fact that “people to people” contact, which is proving to be so difficult in an otherwise difficult relationship, is a sign of the persistent lack of trust on both sides.

The current stumbling block may be the Ukrainian conflict.

The US seems to believe China could hold the key to halting Russia’s progress on the battlefield. And Ambassador Burns reiterated Washington’s message that Beijing’s support for Moscow’s invasion will not be tolerated.

” China is not neutral in this war”, he said. ” China is showing its true colours. It’s supporting Russia, supporting Putin as he unleashes this barbaric war on Ukrainian civilians. We are aware of the products being shipped by Chinese companies, and we are aware of how they are affecting Russia’s ability to fight this war.

He said there were “tens of thousands” of Chinese companies supporting Moscow. ” We have sanctioned a lot of things and are willing to do more if the government here does not back down.”

His statements echo those made by the G7 in Italy last week, which claimed China’s support for Russia was “enabling” the war in Ukraine. Additionally, they threatened to impose more sanctions on Chinese businesses that they claim are aiding Russia in avoiding Western embargoes.

Beijing has dismissed these warnings as “full of arrogance, prejudice and lies”.

Still, some would call this an improvement from 2022. An angry Beijing shut down all cabinet-level communication in Washington following then-Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. On the eve of Mr. Blinken’s visit, relations once more nose-dived in early 2023. He canceled his trip after the US shot down a high-altitude Chinese balloon that had swung across North American airspace.

Only in November of last year, when Mr. Biden and Mr. Xi met in San Francisco, did things finally start to settle.

Mr. Burns described his first two years in the position as difficult because there was little communication with Chinese officials.

Now, he adds, relations are “relatively better” but he sees a tough road ahead:” This very difficult rivalry is going to be present for some time to come”.