US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave a series of interviews to major US television networks on Thursday evening. He explained what were the practical results of the four-hour meeting between the leaders of the United States and China before the start of the APEC summit, which is currently taking place in San Francisco.
Lester Holt, NBC nightly news anchor he asked blinkingAre you afraid that after President Joe Biden called Chinese President Xi Jinping a dictator at a press conference on Wednesday, he could undo all the progress made during the meeting between the two leaders?
The US Secretary of State responded that “the president (Joe Biden) always speaks frankly and speaks on behalf of all Americans” and that “what is important is what we were able to achieve as a result of yesterday’s meeting.”
Blinken values the results of the four-hour conversation between Biden and Xi Jinping as positive: “We have not had contacts between the military for more than a year; we have restored them. Second, we have an agreement with China that they will take steps, and are already taking steps, to disrupt the activities of Chinese companies that supply the chemical ingredients used to make fentanyl. “This will make a real difference in the lives of virtually all Americans.”
To roughly the same question from CBS television anchor Norah O’Donnell, Blinken respondedthat “it’s no secret that we (the United States and China) have two very different systems” and that the United States “will continue to say and do things that China doesn’t like, just as I assume they (China) will continue to do.” and say things we don’t like.”
Blinken believes that the most important thing about the Biden-Xi Jinping meeting and all the work the Biden administration has been doing over the past six months is “continuing competition in a way that does not lead to conflict” and that the United States and China They must “manage differences between them, and also look for areas of cooperation.”
Blinken stressed that “this is one of the most significant relationships that the United States has, this is one of the most significant relationships between two countries in the world, and both the United States and China have a responsibility to try to manage this relationship responsibly. ”. .”
“Yesterday we agreed that our militaries will begin to communicate again at the highest level and at the operational level,” Blinken said. “And this is a very important way to try to avoid a miscalculation, a mistake that could lead to conflict.”
The US Secretary of State also highlighted the importance of the fentanyl agreement reached between Washington and Beijing on Thursday: “In terms of real changes in the lives of the American people, the leading cause of death among Americans aged 18 to 49 is fentanyl. Not car accidents, not guns, not cancer, but fentanyl. And what happened is that the chemical ingredients used to make fentanyl come from China, come to the Western Hemisphere, become fentanyl, and then end up in the United States. “We now have an agreement with China to take specific measures against companies that engage in these practices.”
When asked by a reporter if the United States could count on China to take action against chemicals that are sent to Mexico and then converted into fentanyl, Blinken quoted Biden as saying at a news conference: “Trust, but verify.” “That’s exactly what we’re doing,” Blinken added.