Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to China gave Beijing the perfect opportunity to stage a propaganda coup while bringing little benefit to America, according to analysts.
The two-day trip—marking the first such visit by a U.S. top diplomat in five years—ended on June 19 with Blinken holding talks with Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang, Beijing’s top-ranking diplomat Wang Yi, and for just over half an hour, the regime leader Xi Jinping.
Washington has cast these meetings in a positive light. Blinken, who has raised issues from Taiwan to human rights to the Chinese spy base in Cuba, has described the conversations as “robust” and “constructive,” and a chance to inject greater stability into an increasingly unstable relationship….