U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken plans to visit China in the coming weeks, according to two U.S. officials and a person familiar with the matter, CNN reported. According to sources, preparations for Blinken’s visit to China are underway.
His trip to the Chinese capital, originally scheduled for February, was delayed after a suspected Chinese spy balloon flew over the United States, sparking outrage from the Biden administration. But according to CNN, the two countries are trying to restore normal relations after an unusually turbulent and stressful year.
The expected trip by the top U.S. ambassador will be a major milestone in the delicate relationship between the two countries, which is already severely strained. According to CNN, U.S. officials stressed the importance of regular communication to prevent a “competitive” relationship from devolving into confrontation, and questioned China’s willingness to engage deeply at the cabinet level. Asked about Blinken’s plans to visit China, State Department chief deputy spokesperson Vedante Patel said Tuesday, “We have no travel that the minister can announce; as we have said before, it will be rescheduled when conditions permit.” Visit to the People’s Republic of China.”
News of the planned rescheduling came after “candid” and “productive” discussions between U.S. and Chinese officials in Beijing on Monday, according to Chinese and U.S. sources. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Krittenbrink and National Security Council Senior Director for China and Taiwan Sarah Beran met with diplomats, accompanied by U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns, the State Department briefed. According to CNN, Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu and Director of the North American and Oceanian Department Yang Tao.
“The two sides exchanged views on bilateral relations, cross-strait issues, communication channels and other issues. U.S. officials made it clear that the U.S. will actively compete and defend U.S. interests and values,” the report said. China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that the two sides had “candid, constructive and effective communication” and “properly managed differences” on improving Sino-U.S. relations based on the consensus reached by Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden. During the G20 meeting in Bali in November, CNN reported.
Blinken’s trip was originally to follow up the meeting between the leaders of the two countries. The decision to postpone came after high-level conversations between Blinken, Biden and other top national security officials, according to people familiar with the matter. At the time, Blinken said the balloon incident had “created conditions that undermine the purpose of the trip,” but said he would visit Beijing “as conditions permit.”
National security adviser Jack Sullivan met with senior Chinese official Wang Yi in Vienna last month for “candid” and “constructive” talks that a senior U.S. administration official described as an attempt to Get communication back on track. “I think both sides recognize that that unfortunate incident led to a suspension of engagement. We are now looking to move beyond that and re-establish a standard normal communication channel,” the official said after the meeting Said on the phone with reporters. According to CNN, the meeting.
“We’ve made clear where we stand on violations of sovereignty, and we’ve been clear about that from the beginning. But again, we’re trying to move forward from now on,” the official added, noting that they were focused on “how we deal with Other issues are ongoing, and addressing tensions in existing relationships.” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday of the “aggressive” interception of Chinese military aircraft and ships, including Chinese fighter jets and U.S. military aircraft last week. Called China’s air and sea intercepts “unprofessional” during a close encounter in international airspace in the South China Sea.
“These are intercepts. Air and sea intercepts happen all the time,” he said. Referring to the latest intercept, the United States released a video on May 26 of a Chinese fighter pilot on Tuesday, according to Standard Media. “Unnecessarily aggressive maneuvers” were carried out during the interception of a USAF RC-135 aircraft.
“The things you’ve seen recently, they’re happening more often than we’d like, not all of them are unsafe and unprofessional, but these two are,” he added. “You saw in the air intercept, they forced our plane, an RC 135, to basically go through the jet stream. You saw the turbulence in the cockpit. It showed how close your Chinese fighter was to our jet close,” he said. “In sea intercepts in the Taiwan Strait, 100 and 5,141,050 yards. As an old sailor, I’ll tell you that’s pretty close when you’re in open water like that,” he said in a white accent. A House news conference on Tuesday. (ANI)
(This story was not edited by Devdiscourse staff and was automatically generated from a syndicate feed.)
