JAKARTA - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet China's top diplomat this Monday, the final day of his visit to Beijing, with international scrutiny turning to his possible meeting with President Xi Jinping, when the visit is seen as aimed at preventing disputes between the two countries from falling worsen bilateral relations.
Making his first visit to China since US President Joe Biden took office, Blinken stressed "the need to reduce the risk of misperceptions and miscalculations" in his talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, according to the US State Department, as reported by Reuters, June 19.
As the first US secretary of state to visit China in five years, Blinken held more than 7.5 hours of "frank" and "constructive" talks with Sunday with Qin, although they did not appear to have made any concrete progress in the dispute encompassing Taiwan, trade, human rights and fentanyl.
Both expressed a desire to stabilize ties, despite differences that one US official described as "huge". It was also agreed that a return visit by Qin would resume talks, although a timetable has yet to be finalized.
Blinken will meet China's top diplomat Wang Yi on Monday. But all eyes will be on whether he will also meet Chinese President Xi Jinping? A source familiar with the matter said it was expected but not yet confirmed by the State Department.
Today, I met with People’s Republic of China State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Beijing and discussed how we can responsibly manage the relationship between our two countries through open channels of communication. pic.twitter.com/dPkd0aWQ5J
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) June 18, 2023
Although both sides said Sunday's talks were constructive, they appear to have little to agree on on anything other than continuing talks with a meeting in Washington, as well as working to make it easier for their nationals to visit each other's countries.
Both Washington and Beijing want to have stable relations. However, China also stressed that Taiwan is the most important and potentially dangerous issue.
"Qin Gang pointed out that the Taiwan issue is the core of China's ultimate interests, the most important issue in China-US relations, and the most salient risk," Chinese state media quoted Qin as telling the top US diplomat.
Sino-US relations have soured in recent years, raising fears the two may one day clash militarily over the self-governing island of Taiwan, which China claims as its own.
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US officials and analysts expect Blinken's visit to pave the way for more bilateral meetings in the coming months, including possible visits by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
It could also set the stage for President Xi's talks with President Biden at a multilateral summit later this year.
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