The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, is meeting China’s president, Xi Jinping, in Beijing. The talks between Blinken, who is on the first visit to China by a US secretary of state in five years, and Xi began at 4.30 pm (0830 GMT). Earlier on Monday Xi Blinken held extensive discussions with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi. Describing the US-China relationship as being at a low point, Wang said the root cause was the United States’ wrong perception of China. Blinken underscored the importance of open communication channels to…
Tag: Antony Blinken
Antony Blinken in China: all eyes on whether US secretary of state will meet Xi Jinping
Antony Blinken will meet China’s top diplomat and perhaps its president on Monday, on the final day of a rare visit aimed at trying to bring relations back from historic lows. In the first visit by a US secretary of state to China in five years, Blinken is set to meet Wang Yi but all eyes will be on whether he also meets president Xi Jinping, an engagement sources familiar with the matter said was expected but yet to be confirmed by the state department. On Sunday, Blinken held talks…
Blinken will seek China’s cooperation in curbing fentanyl at high-stakes visit
US secretary of state Antony Blinken will seek China’s cooperation in curbing the production of the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl during his two-day visit to Beijing, one of several contentious issues that the high-stakes diplomatic outreach will touch on. Aides to Blinken have said the issue will feature prominently in discussions between US and Chinese officials during the trip as the US seeks China’s help in curbing Chinese manufacture of precursor chemicals used to create the drug that helped drive more than two-thirds of 100,000 American overdose deaths in each…
Antony Blinken begins China visit that spy balloon put off
Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, arrived in China on Sunday on the highest-level trip by a US official in nearly five years – one due to have happened four months ago, until a Chinese spy balloon was caught flying over US soil. Neither side expects breakthroughs during Blinken’s two-day visit, with the world’s two largest economies at odds on an array of issues such as trade, technology and regional security. The two countries have increasingly voiced an interest in seeking greater stability and see a narrow window before…
Blinken visit seeks to ease fraught US relationship with China
In a long-awaited visit, the US secretary of state is due to arrive in China this week, where he is expected to meet with senior officials in an attempt to stabilise the fraught relationship between the two superpowers. The buildup to Antony Blinken’s China visit has been marred by a series of tense exchanges. On Wednesday Qin Gang, China’s foreign minister, told Blinken in a phone call that the US should stop interfering in China’s internal affairs. Qin also said that the US should respect China’s concerns on the “Taiwan…
US looks to boost ties in Vietnam as China reportedly stalls Blinken visit
China has reportedly refused to reschedule a visit from the US secretary of state, as Antony Blinken kicked off a trip to Vietnam, a crucial South-east Asian trade partner that Washington is looking to bolster ties with as it works to balance Beijing’s growing assertiveness in the region and beyond. In his first visit to the country as the top US diplomat, Blinken will meet with top Vietnamese officials, including Vietnam’s general secretary, Nguyen Phu Trong, and formally break ground on Saturday on a new US embassy compound in Hanoi.…
Germany warns China not to arm Russia as ministers meet at G20 in India
The German chancellor has warned China against arming Russia with weapons, as western foreign ministers repeatedly clashed with the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, at an ill-tempered meeting of the G20 in New Delhi, India. Olaf Scholz told the German parliament: “My message to Beijing is clear: use your influence in Moscow to urge the withdrawal of Russian troops. And don’t deliver any weapons to the aggressor Russia.” China has repeatedly denied suggestions it might arm Moscow, but the US administration has recently said that cooperation between China and Russia…
US attempts to win over UN members who are neutral on war in Ukraine
The US has launched a fresh bid to win over abstaining and neutral states by urging them not to be fooled by Russian calls for a temporary or unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine, warning that a peace plan proposed by China drew “false equivalence” by calling on both sides to stop fighting. US secretary of state Antony Blinken was speaking at a highly charged meeting of the UN security council where he reminded his fellow diplomats that the Russian envoy only a year ago had dismissed his warnings that Moscow was…
Blinken meets with China’s top diplomat after US shoots down balloon
Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, met with China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, on Saturday in Munich in the first senior-level contact between the two countries since the American military shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina on 4 February. In a tweet on Saturday, Blinken said, “Just met with the PRC’s top diplomat, Wang Yi. I condemned the incursion of the PRC surveillance balloon and stressed it must never happen again.” Blinken continued: “I warned China against providing material support to Russia.…
The Observer view on the real threat behind China’s spy balloon | Observer editorial
It must be admitted that the flap over an enormous Chinese balloon that flew or blew, unannounced, over the US and Canada last week has a certain funny side. Pentagon generals went on high alert, fearful that their missile silos in Montana were being spied on. Joe Biden, not normally a trigger-happy man, had to be persuaded not to shoot it down, and then changed his mind. Republicans accused the president of being weak on balloon defence. Red-faced officials in Beijing scrambled to talk the over-excited Americans down. The balloon,…