Garčević Interviewed on US / China Relations
On June 27, 2023, Ambassador Vesko Garčević, Professor of the Practice of International Relations at Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, was featured on Radio Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In an interview with their international politics talk show Global, Ambassador Garčević addressed the outcomes of the recent visit to China of Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and prospects for the relations between the two countries.
Ambassador Garčević explained how Secretary Blinken’s visit to China took place when the relationship between the two countries is at its worst in the last 30 years. Against that backdrop, it is critical to employ diplomacy and keep a channel of communication at a high level open, but it would be premature to expect a rapprochement between Beijing and Washington.
Already tense relations deteriorated further because of feuds over Taiwan and the spy balloons, but this is just the tip of a long list of disagreements. Ambassador Garčević stressed how the strategic competition between Beijing and Washington goes beyond traditional security issues, and that Washington’s efforts to restrict China’s access to advanced semiconductor chips are as important as security in the Taiwan Strait. With that in mind, Ambassador Garčević pointed out how economic decoupling could cause collateral damage to American companies.
Ambassador Garčević concluded the interview with his own personal viewpoint that Blinken’s visit represents a small step forward as the Secretary of State reassured the host about the US strategic intentions in Taiwan, but it can’t bring a significant change in the relations, at least, not now. The best illustration of it is President Bidens’ qualification of Chinese President Xi Jinping as a ‘dictator’, just a day after Blinken’s return to DC.
Watch the full interview here.
Ambassador Vesko Garčević dealt with issues pertinent to European security and NATO for almost 14 years during his diplomatic career. In 2004, he was posted in Vienna to serve as Ambassador to Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He was Montenegro’s Ambassador to NATO from 2010 until 2014 and served as Montenegro’s National Coordinator for NATO from 2015 until he joined the faculty at the Pardee School. Learn more about Ambassador Garčević on his faculty profile.