After meeting US State Secretary Antony Blinken, Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed his hope that the US diplomat’s visit will help the two nations to stabilise their ties between the world’s two largest economies.
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Jinping also added that the state-to-state interactions should continue with a condition of mutual respect, said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying in a tweet. The meeting was also joined by Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying and other senior officials including US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang.
Antony Blinken met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the last day of his China visit on Monday. Blinken’s meeting with Xi Jinping is an indication that his earlier talks with other Chinese officials went smoothly and there are expectations, that Joe Biden and Xi Jinping can meet in later this year.
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Expectations of improvement in US-China ties in the coming time
China’s Foreign Minister Qin accepted an invitation to visit Washington, the State Department said on Sunday. The six to seven hours long conversation between the two leaders was described as ‘productive’ and ‘candid’ by both sides.
There are also expectations that Blinken’s rare visit to China will herald a new phase of cordial relationship between the two countries. The relationship between US and China can reach to much more stable footing as US allies and some of China’s largest trading partners get caught in the crossfire of ruptured ties.
China-US relations worsened to the lowest level after the latter shot down a Chinese spy balloon
US-China ties sank to their lowest level after the US government shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon found floating through US air space. This led to the cancellation of Biden’s trip to Beijing. Since then, the Biden administration has been working to restore ties with China to reduce tensions between the two countries.
“It’s necessary to choose between dialog and confrontation, cooperation and conflict,” China’s top diplomat Wang Yi said after meeting Antony Blinken, according to the statement. US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller called the meeting “productive” in a statement.
Notably, this is for the first time that a US Secretary visited China since President Joe Biden held office. His visit is expected to be followed by more such visits by the officials of the two countries.
(With agency inputs)
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Updated: 19 Jun 2023, 03:29 PM IST