China’s chiefs of diplomacy, Qin Gang, and the United States’ Anthony Blinken met this Saturday in Beijing, marking the start of the first visit to the country by a US secretary of state in five years.
Blinken arrived in Beijing in the early morning, also becoming the highest-ranking US official to visit China since President Joe Biden took office in 2021.
He will stay in Beijing for two days for talks on “economic cooperation, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the Taiwan issue and preparations for the next high-level meetings,” according to Chinese media.
Qin and Blinken had already exchanged criticism on Wednesday, during a telephone conversation that, according to the Spanish agency EFE, was the first high-level bilateral contact in months.
The Chinese minister then appealed to the United States to stop actions that harm China’s sovereign security and development interests “in the name of competition”.
Blinken urged Qin to “keep the lines of communication open” to avoid conflict.
Blinken’s office has previously admitted that no major breakthroughs are expected in the talks, given the many areas of friction between Washington and Beijing.
The idea remains to start a diplomatic “thaw” and maintain a dialogue to “manage the Sino-American relationship responsibly,” the foreign ministry said of the visit, according to the French agency AFP.
Blinken’s visit was initially scheduled for February, following the meeting between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Indonesia in November.
The trip was postponed at the last minute due to a Chinese balloon overflying US territory, which Washington considered a spy and Beijing said it was a meteorological device that had deviated from its route.
While Blinken flew to China, Biden downplayed the balloon episode.
“I don’t think the leaders [chineses] knew where the balloon was, what was in it and what was going on,” he told reporters on Saturday.
“I think it was more embarrassing than intentional,” he added, quoted by AFP.
The meeting between Qin and Blinken will be followed by a working dinner, according to the American agency AP.
On Monday, Blinken will hold further talks with Qin, as well as top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi and possibly Xi Jinping, the AP added.
The previous US Secretary of State to visit China was Mike Pompeo, in October 2018.
Source: DN
