Blinken Begins Key China Visit         04/24 06:03

   U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has begun a critical trip to China 
armed with a strengthened diplomatic hand following Senate approval of a 
foreign aid package that will provide billions of dollars in assistance to 
Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan as well as force TikTok's China-based parent company 
to sell the social media platform --- all areas of contention between 
Washington and Beijing.

   SHANGHAI (AP) -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has begun a critical 
trip to China armed with a strengthened diplomatic hand following Senate 
approval of a foreign aid package that will provide billions of dollars in 
assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan as well as force TikTok's China-based 
parent company to sell the social media platform --- all areas of contention 
between Washington and Beijing.

   Blinken arrived in Shanghai on Wednesday just hours after the Senate vote on 
the long-stalled legislation and shortly before President Joe Biden is expected 
to sign it into law to demonstrate U.S. resolve in defending its allies and 
partners. Passage of the bill will add further complications to an already 
complex relationship that has been strained by disagreements over numerous 
global and regional disputes.

   Still, the fact that Blinken is making the trip -- shortly after a 
conversation between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, a similar visit to 
China by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and a call between the U.S. and 
Chinese defense chiefs -- is a sign the two sides are at least willing to 
discuss their differences.

   Of primary interest to China, the bill sets aside $8 billion to counter 
Chinese threats in Taiwan and the broader Indo-Pacific and gives China's 
ByteDance nine months to sell TikTok with a possible three-month extension if a 
sale is in progress. China has railed against U.S. assistance to Taiwan, which 
it regards as a renegade province, and immediately condemned the move as a 
dangerous provocation. It also strongly opposes efforts to force TikTok's sale.

   The bill also allots $26 billion in wartime assistance to Israel and 
humanitarian relief to Palestinians in Gaza, and $61 billion for Ukraine to 
defend itself from Russia's invasion. The Biden administration has been 
disappointed in China's response to the war in Gaza and has complained loudly 
that Chinese support for Russia's military-industrial sector has allowed Moscow 
to subvert Western sanctions and ramp up attacks on Ukraine.

   Even before Blinken landed in Shanghai -- where he will have meetings on 
Thursday before traveling to Beijing -- China's Taiwan Affairs Office slammed 
the assistance to Taipei, saying it "seriously violates" U.S. commitments to 
China, "sends a wrong signal to the Taiwan independence separatist forces" and 
pushes the self-governing island republic into a "dangerous situation."

   China and the United States are the major players in the Indo-Pacific and 
Washington has become increasingly alarmed by Beijing's growing aggressiveness 
in recent years toward Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries with which it has 
significant territorial and maritime disputes in the South China Sea.

   The U.S. has strongly condemned Chinese military exercises threatening 
Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a renegade province and has vowed to reunify 
with the mainland by force if necessary. Successive U.S. administrations have 
steadily boosted military support and sales for Taiwan, much to Chinese anger.

   A senior State Department official said last week that Blinken would 
"underscore, both in private and public, America's abiding interest in 
maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. We think that is 
vitally important for the region and the world."

   In the South China Sea, the U.S. and others have become increasingly 
concerned by provocative Chinese actions in and around disputed areas.

   In particular, the U.S. has voiced objections to what it says are Chinese 
attempts to thwart legitimate maritime activities by others in the sea, notably 
the Philippines and Vietnam. That was a major topic of concern this month when 
Biden held a three-way summit with the prime minister of Japan and the 
president of the Philippines.

   On Ukraine, which U.S. officials say will be a primary topic of conversation 
during Blinken's visit, the Biden administration said that Chinese support has 
allowed Russia to largely reconstitute its defense industrial base, affecting 
not only the war in Ukraine but posing a threat to broader European security.

   "If China purports on the one hand to want good relations with Europe and 
other countries, it can't on the other hand be fueling what is the biggest 
threat to European security since the end of the Cold War," Blinken said last 
week.

   China says it has the right to trade with Russia and accuses the U.S. of 
fanning the flames by arming and funding Ukraine. "It is extremely hypocritical 
and irresponsible for the U.S. to introduce a large-scale aid bill for Ukraine 
while making groundless accusations against normal economic and trade exchanges 
between China and Russia," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin 
said Tuesday.

   On the Middle East, U.S. officials, from Biden on down, have repeatedly 
appealed to China to use any leverage it may have with Iran to prevent Israel's 
war against Hamas in Gaza from spiraling into a wider regional conflict.

   While China appears to have been generally receptive to such calls -- 
particularly because it depends heavily on oil imports from Iran and other 
Mideast nations -- tensions have steadily increased since the beginning of the 
Gaza war in October and more recent direct strikes and counterstrikes between 
Israel and Iran.

   Blinken has pushed for China to take a more active stance in pressing Iran 
not to escalate tensions in the Middle East. He has spoken to his Chinese 
counterpart, Wang Yi, several times urging China to tell Iran to restrain the 
proxy groups it has supported in the region, including Hamas, Lebanon's 
Hezbollah, Yemen's Houthis and Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.

   The senior State Department official said Blinken would reiterate the U.S. 
interest in China using "whatever channels or influence it has to try to convey 
the need for restraint to all parties, including Iran."

   The U.S. and China are also at deep odds over human rights in China's 
western Xinjiang region, Tibet and Hong Kong, as well as the fate of several 
American citizens that the State Department says have been "wrongfully 
detained" by Chinese authorities, and the supply of precursors to make the 
synthetic opioid fentanyl that is responsible for the deaths of thousands of 
Americans.

   China has repeatedly rejected the American criticism of its rights record as 
improper interference in its internal affairs. Yet, Blinken will again raise 
these issues, according to the State Department official.

   Another department official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to 
preview Blinken's private talks with Chinese officials, said China had made 
efforts to rein in the export of materials that traffickers use to make 
fentanyl but that more needs to be done.

   The two sides agreed last year to set up a working group to look into ways 
to combat the surge of production of fentanyl precursors in China and their 
export abroad. U.S. officials say they believe they had made some limited 
progress on cracking down on the illicit industry but many producers had found 
ways to get around new restrictions.

   "We need to see continued and sustained progress," the official said, adding 
that "more regular law enforcement" against Chinese precursor producers "would 
send a strong signal of China's commitment to address this issue."