US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gives a speech at the Helsinki City Hall in Helsinki, Finland, on June 2, 2023. On Monday, Blinken is scheduled for a meeting with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi, as well as roundtable talks with American exchange students and business leaders. But they did not share any agreements on that topic, or any other substantive topic, with reporters.įollowing the afternoon meeting, Blinken moved on to a working dinner with Qin, the US State Department told the traveling press. One thing that the two sides agreed on was the need to expand flights between the two countries, US officials said. “No one was under any preconception that we were going solve all of the difficult issues in one meeting or two meetings,” the official added, noting that it was important to start the conversation. But “profound differences” between the US and China were also clear during the meeting, the official added. On the whole, Sunday’s meeting was “direct” and resulted in progress “on a number of fronts” with both sides showing a “desire to reduce tensions,” a senior State Department official told reporters.
On the Chinese side, Qin was accompanied by other foreign ministry officials, including Assistant Foreign Minister Hua Chunying. US officials who took part in the meeting included Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink and US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns.
#BEI JING FACTS FULL#
“The Secretary invited Foreign Minister Qin to Washington to continue discussions, and they agreed to schedule a reciprocal visit at a mutually suitable time,” Miller said, adding that Blinken had emphasized the “importance of diplomacy and maintaining channels of communication across the full range of issues to reduce the risk of misperception or miscalculation.”īlinken also expressed US concerns on a number of fronts and opportunities to work together with China where interests align, Miller said.
#BEI JING FACTS WINDOWS#
The two officials exchanged terse pleasantries in English about the US delegation’s flight over before heading into a brightly lit meeting room, with large windows looking out to a lotus pond and a large Chinese traditional ink painting on the wall.ĭuring the meeting, which lasted for more than five hours, Blinken invited Qin to visit Washington and the invitation was accepted, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said in a readout of the meeting. His retinue touched down in Beijing on Sunday with a full schedule for the first day which began with meeting China’s foreign minister, Qin Gang, who took up the post six months ago after ending a stint as Beijing’s ambassador to Washington.īlinken and Qin shook hands in front of reporters at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse on Sunday afternoon, their first in-person meeting in their current positions. “What we’re working to do on this trip is to really carry forward what President Biden and President Xi agreed to in Bali at the end of last year, which was to establish sustained, regular lines of communication at senior levels across our governments precisely so that we can make sure that we are communicating as clearly as possible to avoid, as best possible, misunderstandings and miscommunications,” Blinken said Friday prior to his departure.īlinken’s primary goal in China is to reestablish channels of communication, especially direct military-to-military communication between Washington and Beijing, according to a senior State Department official. Instead, US officials are framing the trip as an effort to resume normal channels of communication with China in order to avoid conflict between two of the globe’s great powers. Officials from both governments have signaled low expectations for the visit, with a senior State Department official telling reporters earlier this week that he does not expect “a long list of deliverables.” Previous trips by America’s top diplomat have often involved a face to face with China’s top leader, but relations are at their lowest in decades. Observers will be closely watching for whether a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping is on the cards. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken kicked off talks with senior Chinese officials in Beijing on Sunday at the start of a high-stakes visit meant to steer relations back on course after months of inflamed tensions between the world’s two largest economies.īlinken is the first secretary of state to travel to China in five years and the most senior US official to make such a mission since President Joe Biden took office in early 2021.
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