US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan’s trip to Beijing was about managing tension and that’s the best that can be hoped for, says this foreign affairs columnist.
Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission, second from right, holds a meeting with White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan , second from left, during a meeting at the Bayi building in Beijing, on Aug 29, 2024. for a multi-day trip in an attempt to keep relations between Washington and Beijing on a somewhat even-keel as the United States prepares for a
Systemic rivalry aside, the US and China don’t have an interest in flirting with such a catastrophic scenario. To the extent Sullivan’s meetings reinforced this theme, then they were time well spent. China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi was equal parts scathing and diplomatic during his time with Sullivan, arguing that the United States needed to start treating China as an equal rather than a systemic competitor. In fact, Chinese officials completely disagree with the notion that the United States and China can be a competitor and a partner at the same time.
The United States seeks to maintain its dominance over international relations to the extent possible, whereas China is intent on translating its greater wealth and military capacity into more power in the international system. The latter will obviously rub up against the former, resulting in the type of bilateral tension that is not easy to rectify.
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