June 19, 2024. The United States and China have agreed to expand meetings between them and try to bring their relationship back from historic lows as Secretary of State Antony Held meetings about the rising tension during his unusual visit to Beijing. As said by the officials.
Before on Sunday, Blinken started the two-day official visit to Beijing by meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang at a lavish state guest house in Beijing’s Diaoyutai gardens that generally hosts foreign dignitaries. This was followed by dinner. Blinken is the most senior official to visit China in more than five years.
At first, Blinken walked a red carpet along with his counterpart and shook hands beside their respective national flags standing in front of a painting of craggy mountains and wispy clouds. The greeting was business-like, highlighting the distant relationship that have formed between the two countries in recent times.
Both US and China have made it clear that they do not anticipate any major breakthrough through this visit. Chinese officials were nonchalant to Mr. Blinken’s visit examining whether there is sincerity in the efforts of US to repair their relationship.
The meeting continued for more than seven hour which was longer than anticipated. Representatives of both sides confirmed that the Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang agreed to visit Washington at a later date and that the two top diplomats would work together to increase flights between the world’s two most dominant economies, that is very low since the Covid-19 pandemic.
China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang told secretary Blinken about the commitment of Beijing in building a stable, predictable and constructive relationship with the US. He also added that Taiwan is the most prominent threat for China-US relations and highlighted the Taiwan issue as one of “China’s core interests”, according to the national media.
In the meeting, Blinken emphasised on the significance of diplomacy and clear and precise communication regarding all the issues between the countries to reduce the threat of misperception and miscalculation. The meeting was said to be “candid, substantive and constructive” by the officials.
Today, Monday, secretary Blinken will hold another round of meetings with Chinese officials and afterwards he will address the press before leaving. But there was no press briefing by both the sides after the first round of meeting on Sunday.
Secretary Blinken was originally supposed to visit Beijing in February but had to delay that plan as the United States found the Chinese Spy balloon flying on its airspace which they later shot down and also protested against.
US President Joe Biden downplayed the balloon incident, as he said that he does not think that the Chinese leadership knew where the balloon was and what was in it and where it was going.
Biden mentioned that he hoped to meet President Xi Jinping again after their long
and amicable meeting in November at a summit in Bali, where they agreed on Blinken’s visit.
