Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned a top Chinese diplomat on Saturday of Vice President Kamala Harris’ firm stance on U.S.-China diplomacy as the political winds shift away from President Joe Biden, according to The Washington Post.
Harris is now the presumptive Democratic nominee in the 2024 presidential race, despite receiving virtually no votes in the party’s primary after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race on Sunday. Blinken met with his Chinese counterpart, foreign minister Wang Yi, on Saturday to discuss U.S.-China relations and broader international issues, underscoring that both Biden and Harris would accept a “rules-based” international order, representing a rare mention of Harris’ own views as she moves further into the spotlight, a senior State Department official told The Washington Post.
“Obviously, there’s a little bit different context now than there has been in the past,” the official told the Post, noting that Blinken had mentioned Harris in a prior conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2022, but that the situation had changed given Biden’s choice to drop out and Harris’ newfound chances at the Democratic nomination. “There’s a different context now, because the circumstances are different than they were looking during previous meetings.”
Harris has thus far made three trips to the Asia-Pacific region during her tenure as vice president, in efforts aimed at maintaining the U.S.-China relationship while speaking out against China’s aggression in the region, according to the Post.
Defense experts and former U.S. national security officials previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation that they were doubtful that Harris had enough experience to oversee national security and foreign policy, raising concerns that her possible election would jeopardize U.S. security.
During their discussion, Blinken outlined to Wang a series of challenges the U.S. government was having with the Chinese government, urging Beijing to keep its promise to work on bilateral cooperation, according to an official statement from the State Department and the Post. Among the issues Blinken raised with Wang were stemming the flow of fentanyl ingredients from China, the need for increased military-to-military cooperation, concerns about China’s aggression against U.S. allies in the South China Sea and China’s worrying relationship with Russia.
“Secretary Blinken emphasized the importance of continuing to use diplomacy to responsibly manage competition, to candidly discuss areas of difference, and to make progress on areas of cooperation that matter to the American people and the world,” a statement from State Department spokesman Matthew Mille reads, according to the Post. “The two sides recognized the importance of maintaining open lines of communication in the weeks and months ahead.”
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.
