Xi tells Blinken US should avoid ‘vicious competition’ with China

Stay informed with free updates

Simply sign up to the US-China relations myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.

China’s President Xi Jinping has warned US secretary of state Antony Blinken that the countries must not engage in “vicious competition”, as bilateral relations remain tense over issues such as the South China Sea, Taiwan and Beijing’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

During a meeting on Friday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Xi told Blinken that the US and China should be partners, not rivals, and should seek “mutual success”, not to “harm each other”, according to Chinese state media.

“China is pleased to see a confident, open, prosperous . . . United States. We hope that the US side can also view China’s development in a positive and proactive light,” the Chinese president said.

“Once this fundamental issue is resolved,” only then will “the China-US relationship truly stabilise, improve and move forward”, Xi added.

During talks earlier on Friday morning with foreign minister Wang Yi, Blinken raised US allegations that China was providing support to Russia’s defence industries and the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea and around Taiwan, according to a state department spokesperson.

Wang told Blinken, who is on a three-day trip to China, that while dialogue and co-operation had increased in “various fields”, “on the other hand, negative factors in Sino-US relations are still rising and accumulating”, state media reported.

Wang added that the US should respect China’s “red lines”, such as Beijing’s territorial claims over Taiwan, and cease arms sales to the island. Wang also criticised Washington’s “endless measures” to block technology exports to China and complaints over Chinese industrial overcapacity.

Co-operation between the superpowers has advanced, especially on curbs on the sale of fentanyl precursors by Chinese companies, since a rapprochement in November, when US President Joe Biden met Xi in San Francisco, according to Chinese officials.

But frictions have also escalated in the South China Sea, which China claims almost in its entirety. Chinese vessels have been trying to prevent the Philippines from resupplying Marines on the Sierra Madre, a rusting ship grounded on the Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

The US has warned that its mutual defence treaty with the Philippines applies to the Sierra Madre, with Biden expressing “deep concern” over the issue during a phone call with Xi this month.

State media said Wang and Blinken agreed to continue exchanges between the two militaries and consultations in other areas, such as co-operation on drug control, climate change and artificial intelligence.

“The two sides are willing to strengthen communication on international and regional hot issues,” state media reported.

Additional reporting by Wenjie Ding in Beijing