US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is on a two-day visit to China. He is the first American diplomat to reach China in the last 5 years. During this tour, Blinken met Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday.
During this, the two leaders discussed improving relations between the US and China. US officials have said they hope the visit will bring, if not a breakthrough, more excellent stability between Washington and Beijing.
Chinese state media said Xi, China’s most powerful leader in decades, met with Blinken on Monday at 4:30 p.m. An hour before this meeting, an official of the US State Department announced this.
This meeting of Xi Jinping and Antony Blinken took place in the ‘Great Hall of the People’. The meeting came after Blinken held talks with other top officials for over 10 hours over two days.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated America’s position on its One China policy during his meeting with Xi Jinping. Blinken clarified that the US does not support Taiwan’s independence but is concerned about China’s provocative actions along the Taiwan Strait.
He also said that America does not intend to control China’s economy. Blinken took issue with the sanctions, telling Chinese officials that the US was not trying to “hinder” China’s economic development, but was trying to protect “specific technologies” critical to national security.
After the meeting between Xi Jinping and Antony Blinken, there is a possibility that there may be a meeting between the top leaders of the two countries shortly. On Sunday, US Secretary of State Blinken held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang for seven and a half hours.
During this, controversial issues like Taiwan, trade, human rights and fentanyl drugs were discussed between the two leaders. According to media reports, the talks on these issues could not reach any definitive conclusion. However, in the meeting, both sides agreed to continue high-level discussions.
According to the report, China has accepted Blinken’s invitation to visit Washington. China also clarified that ‘China-US relations are at an all-time low’.
