US Secretary of State Antony Blinken plans to travel to China next week as Joe Biden’s administration attempts to improve relations with the country, following controversy over a Chinese surveillance balloon shot down in February.
US officials, quoted by the Associated Press (AP), say Blinken expects to be in Beijing on June 18 for meetings with senior Chinese officials, including Foreign Minister Qin Gang and possibly President Xi Jinping.
Officials spoke to the agency on an anonymity basis because neither the Foreign Ministry nor China’s foreign ministry has confirmed the trip.
The visit, which was agreed between Xi Jinping and Joe Biden at a meeting in Bali last year, was initially scheduled for February but was eventually postponed due to the alleged spy balloon incident, which Beijing insists it is a weather device gone off course.
There have been contacts between the United States and China since then, but they have been infrequent as tensions have risen over China’s actions in the South China Sea, aggressive actions against Taiwan and support for Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Last week, China’s defense minister rejected a request from the US defense secretary for a meeting on the sidelines of a security symposium in Singapore.
Shortly after postponing his trip to Beijing, however, Blinken had a brief meeting with China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, at the security conference in Munich, Germany.
The head of the CIA also traveled to China in May and the Chinese minister of commerce traveled to the United States last month.
In addition, Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, also met with Wang in Vienna in early May, a meeting that the White House said was “part of ongoing efforts to keep lines of communication open and manage competition responsibly.” “.
“The two sides agreed to maintain this important strategic communication channel to achieve these goals,” the White House added.
Most recently, top US diplomat for the Asia-Pacific region, Daniel Kritenbrink, traveled to China earlier this week with a senior National Security Council official.
Source: DN
