The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, held a meeting with the President of China, Xi Jinping, as part of his visit to Beijing, the first by a US Secretary of State since 2018. It happened after he met this Sunday with the Chinese Foreign Minister, Qin Gang, and also this Monday, before he met with the president , held a meeting with the head of Chinese foreign policy, Wang Yi. Blinken’s is a high level diplomatic mission to cool tensions between the two countries.
Blinken and Xi’s meeting, which lasted 35 minutes and took place at the Diaoyutai State Guest House, had not been confirmed before the secretary of state arrived in Beijing, so it will likely be seen as a positive sign. that the talks are going well.
Speaking while addressing Blinken, Xi has said that the two superpowers “have had sincere and in-depth discussions” and emphasized that the interactions between the two nations must “always be based on mutual respect and sincerity”, as can be seen in a video broadcast by China on CCTV state television.
“I hope that, with this visit, the Secretary of State will make more positive contributions to stabilize China-US relations“, also stated the Chinese leader, who has indicated that “the two parties also made progress and reached an agreement on some specific issues”, which he considers something “very good”, although he did not reveal more details.
What did Binken say about the meeting?
Blinken, for his part, said that the president of the United States, Joe Biden himself, asked him to travel to China because “believes that the United States and China have an obligation to manage their relationship responsibly”. “The United States is committed to doing that,” said the Secretary of State, who explained that “It is in the interest of the United States, in the interest of China and in the interest of the world” that tensions not escalate.
“I appreciate this opportunity to discuss with you a way forward,” Blinken told Xi during the meeting.
Blinken was scheduled to have traveled to China in February, but these plans were altered due to the controversy over the alleged Chinese spy balloon flying over US airspace.. The US eventually shot it down (Beijing insisted it was an unidentified weather tracker that went off course) and tensions between the world’s two largest economies grew and have persisted ever since.
Hence the importance of this trip, although expectations of a significant recovery in the relationship between the two countries remain low. In any case, Biden said on Saturday that he hopes to meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in the coming months, a meeting that could take place during Blinken’s trip. “I look forward to meeting with Xi again in the coming months and discussing the legitimate differences we have and how to overcome them,” the Democrat said.
It is speculated that the meeting between the top leaders could take place in November, during the Leaders’ Summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum to be held in San Francisco. It would be the first held since Bali last November, one day before the start of a G-20 summit.
Source: Ambito
