Tag: Blinken, Antony J

Blinken Meets Xi as China and the U.S. Try to Ease Tensions

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Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met with Xi Jinping, China’s leader, on Monday in Beijing, as the two governments sought to pull relations out of a deep chill that has raised global concerns about the growing risk of a conflict between them. The 35-minute meeting, which capped a two-day visit by Mr. Blinken, sent a signal, at least for now, that the United States and China do not want their relationship to be defined by open hostility, and that they recognize that their rivalry and their diplomatic efforts carry…

U.S. Worries About Private Chinese Companies Aiding Russia, Blinken Says

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BEIJING — While the United States has seen no sign that the Chinese government has decided to send lethal aid to Russia, it is worried that private Chinese companies will provide matériel and technology that Moscow’s military could use in Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said on Monday. “That is a concern,” Mr. Blinken told a news conference in Beijing after meeting with China’s leader, Xi Jinping. He said he had raised the concern with Chinese officials and “urged them to be vigilant.” Mr. Blinken said in February…

Blinken in China: What to Know

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Antony J. Blinken landed in Beijing on Sunday morning, making him the first U.S. secretary of state to visit since 2018. Tense relations have delayed the trip for months: He had intended to visit in February, but postponed after the Pentagon announced that a Chinese surveillance balloon was drifting across the continental United States. Mr. Blinken and other American officials have expressed hope that the visit might open a more constructive era of diplomacy. But China has maintained a confrontational stance in recent weeks, raising concerns that the meetings in…

Biden Administration Engages in Long-Shot Attempt for Saudi-Israel Deal

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Shortly after his plane took off earlier this month from Riyadh, where he had held a lengthy meeting with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken called a different Middle East leader, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. Over 40 minutes, Mr. Blinken gave the Israeli leader a briefing about the significant demands the young crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, was making for his nation to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel. Mr. Netanyahu had an update on his own demands. The phone call — described by two American…

Republicans Attack Blinken for China Trip, Threatening Subpoena

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The News Leading congressional Republicans excoriated Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken on Friday for traveling to China this weekend, accusing him of undermining national security by attempting to normalize diplomatic relations with Beijing as they press for a more hard-line approach. Representative Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas and the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, threatened to subpoena Mr. Blinken if he failed to produce documents by Friday evening detailing the list of retaliatory actions the U.S. government has considered against China, and when they were applied. “The Biden…

Bill Gates Meets Xi Jinping in First Visit to China Since 2019

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In a rare encounter with an American business figure, Xi Jinping, China’s leader, met Friday with Bill Gates as officials from Washington were set to arrive in Beijing in an effort to restart bilateral discussions. Mr. Xi told Mr. Gates that he was “the first American friend I met in Beijing this year,” according to People’s Daily, the Communist Party newspaper. Mr. Xi also said he wanted to build stronger ties with Mr. Gates’s philanthropic organization, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to help with aid to developing countries. The…

As Blinken Heads to China, Suspicion Awaits Him

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Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken makes his long-delayed visit to China beginning Sunday in the hope of slowing the downward spiral of relations between Beijing and Washington. But China’s increasingly assertive, at times outright hostile, stance suggests that the visit will be as much about confrontation as détente. In China’s telling, the United States is a declining, hegemonic power that is seeking to cling to its dominance in China’s backyard and provoke Beijing over its claim on Taiwan, the self-governed island democracy. The country’s leader, Xi Jinping, accuses the…

Russia-China Bond Is Closely Watched, and Fraught

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Birthday best wishes rarely come freighted with so much significance. But when it is Russia’s embattled president, Vladimir V. Putin, flattering his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, even seemingly small gestures send a message to the world, not least to their Western rivals. Mr. Putin sent Mr. Xi a congratulatory telegram when the Chinese leader turned 70 on Thursday, wishing his “dear friend” good health, happiness and success, further cementing the image of a personal bond between the two authoritarian leaders. “It is difficult to overestimate the effort that you have…

Blinken Plans to Meet With Top Chinese Officials in Beijing

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The News The State Department announced on Wednesday that Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken planned to leave on Friday for a visit to Beijing to stress to Chinese officials “the importance of maintaining open lines of communication to responsibly manage” the relationship between the two nations. Mr. Blinken also plans to “raise bilateral issues of concern, global and regional matters, and potential cooperation on shared transnational challenges,” the State Department said. The trip is one that Mr. Blinken had to reschedule after canceling a planned visit on the day…

Yellen Says Bid to Decouple From China Would Be ‘Disastrous’

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Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said on Tuesday that it would be a mistake for the United States to try to “decouple” from China and called for deepening economic ties between the world’s two largest economies. The comments came as the Biden administration has been seeking to improve relations with China, which faced a setback this year when a Chinese surveillance balloon was found flying across the United States. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken is planning to travel to Beijing next week, and Ms. Yellen hopes to make a…