The choice of the meeting room highlighted the hope for more cordial relations between the two nations. Although serious differences remain, at the meeting both sides expressed mutual respect and a willingness to cooperate.
The venue’s references to flourishing nature are also a reminder that the climate crisis can be overcome only if the United States and China can overlook their disagreements and work together.
Earlier in his visit, Blinken met Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission. The two shook hands in a conference hall in the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse and posed for a photo in front of a landscape painting titled A Spring Dawn at Taihang Mountains.
Blinken with Wang at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on June 19, posing in front of the painting titled A Spring Dawn at Taihang Mountains. Photo: Xinhua
The painting depicts the majestic mountains that stretch over 400km across three provinces in northern China. The mountains help form major rivers in the North China Plain, providing lifelines for vast populations throughout history.
The landscape evokes the grandeur of the nation, its history and people, and the painting’s location in the Diaoyutai diplomatic complex, where international leaders are often received, is fitting.
The spring scene is also a suitable backdrop for the occasion of a long-awaited meeting between US and Chinese officials. All across the mountain range are budding trees which could be seen as symbolising hope for a productive future for the two nations. In this context, of course, that future can be realised only through more constructive diplomatic relations.
Blinken’s visit to China followed a high-profile meeting between Xi and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, during which Xi called Gates “an old friend”. During his visit to China, Gates pledged US$50 million on behalf of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support drug discovery and medical research in the country.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates meets Xi Jinping in Beijing on June 16. Behind them is a painting of China’s Yellow Mountain, a range in southern Anhui province. Photo: AP
The painting decorating their meeting room features a magnificent view of China’s Yellow Mountain, including towering pines and blossoming flowers. Again, this can be seen as a reference to the aspiration for a flourishing global ecosystem, within which both the US and Chinese economies can prosper.
For centuries, landscape art has been part of the political spectacle when Chinese leaders welcome foreign dignitaries. In the US, portraits of former presidents seem to serve a similar purpose when American leaders meet foreign officials.
For instance, when US President Joe Biden sat down to talk to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in the Oval Office last month, they were flanked by the portraits of former presidents.
Also on the wall behind them was a portrait of Alexander Hamilton, the first US secretary of the Treasury, right beneath his political rival, former president Thomas Jefferson, which some have suggested reflects the thinking that healthy arguments can strengthen the polity.
Sunak attends a bilateral meeting with Biden in the White House on June 8. Behind them are the portraits of (from top left), former presidents George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Thomas Jefferson, as well as Jefferson’s political rival, Alexander Hamilton, who served as the first US secretary of the treasury. Photo: Reuters
When Biden hosted South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol at a state dinner, the two were photographed in front of a large portrait of Abraham Lincoln in contemplation.
Every leader has a unique style of diplomacy but the consistency of the US and Chinese style of decoration in their government buildings suggests two disparate approaches to foreign relations. While the US focuses on presenting the wisdom and legacy of its leaders, China features its natural environment, which sustains the lives of its people.
Confucian classics state clearly that the government, like nature, should foster lives. In China, since the popularity of landscape paintings started emerging around the 10th century, such art has been used to decorate all kinds of public spaces and official buildings.
Nature represents a resource for nurturing the public good. China’s leaders were seen as responsible for taking care of the ecosystem so future generations can continue to enjoy nature’s gifts. This was a way in which leaders legitimised their governance.
Whatever motivated the choice of background for these meetings, the point is that the US and China, along with the rest of the world, need to centre their diplomatic energies on coexistence and collaboration.
By embracing cooperation and coexistence, the world can harness the potential of China’s extensive markets, technological advancements and cultural richness, paving the way for a more inclusive and sustainable future.
Gerui Wang is the author of the forthcoming book: Landscape, Governance, and Ecology in China, 1000-1400. She is a visiting scholar at Stanford University and holds a doctorate from the University of Michigan. Her research centres on the intersections of art, public policy, technology and the environment
