A high-stakes diplomatic delegation led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Beijing early on Sunday in an effort to defuse growing U.S.-China tensions that have many people on edge throughout the world.
In the afternoon, Blinken was scheduled to begin two days of negotiations with top Chinese officials. He is the first secretary of state to travel to China in five years and the highest ranking American official to do so since President Biden assumed office.He had originally intended to visit in February, but he had to cancel after a Chinese spy balloon was shot down over the United States.
However, given the already strained relationship between the two largest economies on the planet and the lack of any real progress on the most difficult problems facing them in recent years. Over a string of differences that have ramifications for the stability and security of the world, hostility and recriminations have progressively increased.
According to U.S. sources, Blinken has meetings scheduled with President Xi Jinping on Monday, senior diplomat Wang Yi, and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Sunday.At a meeting last year in Bali, Biden and Xi approved of Blinken’s trip in advance.
It almost happened in February, but was postponed by the diplomatic and political upheaval caused by the discovery of what the United States claims to be a Chinese spy balloon that was shot down while flying over the country.