Apparently, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the pressing need to "responsibly manage" the Sino-US relationship to "avoid miscalculation and conflict" in their talk by telephone on Wednesday.

Interestingly, unlike previous readouts that have at least mentioned what the other side said or offered a terse description of talks as being "candid", "open" or "constructive", the news release both sides published immediately after the phone call only outlined what Qin or Blinken stressed to each other.

Qin, on his part, apparently spoke of "new difficulties and challenges" that have appeared and confronted Sino-US relations since the beginning of the year, noting that it is the US side that should be held accountable for them.

The meeting of the two countries' leaders in Bali, Indonesia, in November should have paved the way for effectively easing the tensions between the two countries, had the US side implemented their consensus as faithfully as the Chinese side has.

However, be it in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, or trade and technology, the United States has not only clung to its China-containment strategy, but also further intensified its military suppression, economic coercion, trade bullying and geopolitical isolation targeting China.

With the Joe Biden administration discarding the US' long-term strategic ambiguity on the Taiwan question, Beijing has been left with no option but to reevaluate how sincere the administration is when it says it seeks to improve relations given its consistent undermining of China's sovereignty, security and development interests.

That's why Qin demanded the US side take concrete actions to respect China's solemn positions on the Taiwan question and other core concerns, and stop interfering in China's internal affairs.

Compared to Qin, who touched upon almost all key issues related to the bilateral ties as well as the specific problems and their solutions, Blinken apparently chose to prevaricate by repeating what have become well-worn cliches of the Biden administration, such as expressing the US' readiness to "use diplomatic engagements to raise areas of concern as well as areas of potential cooperation" and the need for "maintaining open lines of communication".

The fundamental starting point for an improvement in China-US relations is for the US side to stop hollowing out the otherwise substantial content of bilateral relations with empty promises, gaudy concepts and slick discourses. With Blinken due to make his long-mooted visit to China on Sunday and Monday, the US side should bear in mind that Beijing now only cares about what it does instead of what it says.

Barring any hijacking of his trip by the Washington "balloonists", Blinken's long-delayed visit finally looks set to go ahead. But it will be nothing more than window dressing without a commitment to real actions to mend ties.