U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a long-awaited trip to China this week.
During his visit, the first by a Biden administration Cabinet official, he met senior diplomat Wang Yi, Foreign Minister Qin Gang and, after some uncertainty, supreme leader Xi Jinping. The meetings were candid — diplomatic lingo for "marked by disagreement" — but progress was made.
There are again hopes that the United States and China have recognized the need to install guardrails on their relationship, to ensure that there are channels of communication to address the inevitable disagreements and periodic crises. Success will require hard work and a focus on the big picture. Within days of the visit, however, there were signs that petulance and politics could again prevail over common sense.