China can’t count on US giving any strategic ground soon: top Chinese academic Wang Jisi

Wang said that despite efforts to improve communication he had seen little sign of change from Beijing and Washington. Instead, the two countries had toughened their economic and foreign policy positions, citing national security grounds.

“This is why I think we should give up any illusion that the US would make strategic concessions to China,” he said.

US outreach efforts have gained momentum in recent weeks. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Beijing last month and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will arrive in the Chinese capital on Thursday.

More high-level engagement is expected but it is not clear if it will generate enough goodwill for Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend the Apec summit in San Francisco in November. If he does go, it will be Xi’s first visit to the US since 2017.

But Wang said ties were unlikely to improve anytime soon.

“The nature of the US-China relationship has already determined that it will not improve in the near future, and that both sides now hold a negative view of the other,” Wang said.

“Even if the relationship does get better, it will just be an improvement about the mood or a temporary détente.”

Wang, president of the Institute of International and Strategic Studies at Peking University, said there were also concerns about the potential fallout from another balloon-like incident.

“I have some concerns that any unexpected event, such as the balloon incident or other events, could worsen bilateral relations once again, and we hope to avoid such an event,” he said.

“The two sides had no better channels but to communicate through their diplomatic missions, but how can the Chinese embassy in the United States have any idea about who sent the balloon? The Chinese side needed time to find out and the US has difficulty understanding why it took so long.”

If there were any incidents, particularly in the lead-up to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting or the G20 summit in New Delhi, each side would need to “avoid heated arguments or any confrontation”.

“And that is something I think we can hope for,” he said.