2023-06-17 23:47:03
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Beijing for a two-day visit, the first by a US secretary of state in five years, amid a chill in bilateral relations and little hope of a breakthrough over a long list of differences between the world’s two largest economies.
After the visit was postponed in February due to the flight of a suspected Chinese spy balloon in US airspace, Blinken became the most senior US government official to visit China since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021.
Sources said Blinken will hold meetings in China on Sunday and Monday, and may meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
There are many points of contention between the two powers, which are engaged in fierce competition, from the Taiwan crisis, through Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea, to the battle of electronic chips.
Blinken’s remarks before the visit
Blinken announced, Friday, that one of the goals of his visit to China is to “avoid miscalculations” with Beijing, in parallel with seeking spaces of understanding.
Blinken told reporters before leaving Washington for China that the visit aims to “open direct lines of communication so that our two countries can manage our relationship in a responsible manner, and avoid miscalculations.”
For its part, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said, on Friday, that China’s door is always open for dialogue with the United States, adding that contacts between the two countries have never stopped.
Wang Wenbin, spokesman for the ministry, said at a regular press briefing that China and the United States should develop relations on the basis of mutual respect and equality.
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