Managing Our Most Consequential Relationship

"If their vision for the world actually matched ours or matched many other countries, that would be one thing. But they have a different vision, a different vision of what that future looks like," said Secretary Blinken on China.

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“There’s an expectation, both from the American people and from people around the world that we’ll do everything we can to manage what is arguably the most complex and consequential relationship of any in the world,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking of U.S.-China relations.

“It means being very clear and standing up effectively to the areas where we have profound disagreements and would take the world in different directions, and that’s what we’ve done. It also means trying to find wherever we can areas of cooperation where it’s clearly in the interests of our people, Chinese people, people around the world for us to cooperate,” he said.

One promising area of cooperation with China is an effort to counter the flow into the United States of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs and their precursors, Secretary Blinken said.

“In terms of putting forward new regulations, in terms of taking down some of the companies that were illicitly engaged in the diversion of these precursors, these ingredients for fentanyl, prosecuting people who are engaged in this practice, setting up a working group with us to try to make sure that we’re focused on it day in day out – that’s happened and that’s good. That’s progress.”

Secretary Blinken underscored the United States is also clear-eyed and determined about the areas of competition and contestation with China:

“Over time, over the coming decades, they would like to be the leading country, the dominant country in the international system militarily, economically, diplomatically ... And if their vision for the world actually matched ours or matched many other countries, that would be one thing. But they have a different vision, a different vision of what that future looks like. And so we disagree, and we’re going to compete very vigorously to make sure that we’re the ones who are effectively shaping that future.”

Among China’s current policies causing deep concern, Secretary Blinken cited the economic challenge caused by China’s over capacity, its attempt to flood markets in critical sectors, unfairly wiping out competition. He also cited the security challenge caused by Beijing’s investment in Russia’s defense industrial base in ways that allow Putin to continue his aggression against Ukraine.

The bottom line is that the United States must be prepared to act on each area of its relationship with China, said Secretary Blinken, “the competition, the contestation, the cooperation.”