President Xi Jinping said China had “made progress” with the United States on Monday (Jun 19) as he hosted Secretary of State Antony Blinken for talks in Beijing.
Blinken’s visit is the highest-level trip by a US official to China in nearly five years with ties severely strained between the world’s two largest economies.
Speaking following his meeting with Xi, the top US diplomat said he agreed with China’s leadership on the need to “stabilise” relations but that he was “clear-eyed” on vast disagreements between the two countries.
“Direct engagement and sustained communication at senior levels is the best way to responsibly manage differences and ensure that competition does not veer into conflict,” Blinken told reporters.
“I heard the same from my Chinese counterparts. We both agree on the need to stabilise our relationship,” he added.
Xi, China’s most powerful leader in decades, met Blinken at the capital’s Great Hall of the People just after 4.30pm (8.30am GMT), Chinese state media and US officials said.
“The Chinese side has made our position clear and the two sides have agreed to follow through the common understandings President Biden and I had reached in Bali,” Xi told the top US diplomat.
The United States is committed to returning to the agenda set by the two presidents in Bali, Blinken said, adding that the United States stands by the commitments made by President Biden, namely that the United States does not seek a new Cold War, it does not seek to change China’s system, its alliances are not directed at China, it does not support “Taiwan independence,” and it does not seek conflict with China.
“Two sides have also made progress and reached agreement on some specific issues,” he said, without elaborating.
“I hope that Secretary Blinken, through this visit, can make positive contributions to stabilising China-US relations,” he added.
The meeting, which lasted just over half an hour, came after Blinken held more than 10 hours of talks over two days with other top officials.
At the ornate Diaoyutai State Guesthouse earlier on Monday, Blinken and China’s foreign policy supremo Wang Yi offered polite smiles before talks with their aides, who unlike their bosses wore masks in line with lingering COVID-19 protocols.
Away from the cameras, Wang told Blinken that his trip “comes at a critical juncture in China-US relations”, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
“It is necessary to make a choice between dialogue and confrontation, cooperation or conflict,” he said.
“We must reverse the downward spiral of China-US relations, push for a return to a healthy and stable track, and work together to find a correct way for China and the United States to get along,” Wang added.
Source: AFP
