Opening dialogue channels with China

U.S. Secretary State Tony Blinken’s two-day visit to China draws much attention from the rest of the world. He met with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, his immediate boss Wang Yi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Monday. It was the first visit to China by the U.S. state secretary since the launch of Joe Biden’s administration in 2021 and the first visit by a U.S. secretary of state since 2018.

During the five-year diplomatic vacuum, the U.S.-China relations have continued getting worse. After the start of the full-fledged hegemony war, both sides turned increasingly hostile to one another. In his meeting with Blinken, the Chinese foreign minister said the bilateral relations are “at the lowest point.” After a scheduled meeting was cancelled due to a suspicious Chinese balloon flying over the U.S. in February, the two top diplomats had a meeting for eight hours.

Both sides reportedly agreed to the need to restore a high-level channel for dialogue and establish a guardrail to prevent an accidental military clash between China and the U.S. What attracts our attention is whether Xi will visit the U.S. for a summit with Biden on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in San Francisco in November.

The U.S. and China fortunately have turned to dialogue after dashing to each other like in the game of chicken. The turnaround could be a sign of “derisking,” not “decoupling,” as U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said. That poses challenges to diplomatic strategy of Korea squeezed between the U.S. and China. The Yoon Suk Yeol administration must reinforce diplomatic maneuverability while watching the dialogue between Washington and Beijing. As the Yoon administration was bent on normalizing the Korea-Japan relations and strengthening the alliance, its relations with China and Russia have become strained — particularly since Chinese Ambassador to Seoul Xing Haiming made provocative remarks in a meeting with the opposition leader.

For security, diplomacy with the U.S. is crucial, but at the same time the government must demonstrate flexibility in diplomacy. It must restore various communication channels, including on the vice-ministerial level, instead of leaving the ties unattended. When things get tough, finding a breakthrough from civilian exchanges between them could offer an answer. Given the complicated international situation, the government must prepare a multi-layered diplomatic net.