Washington and Beijing have made little progress on some more contentious issues, including China’s support for Russia in its war against Ukraine. This topic will be one of the main items during Antony Blinken’s negotiations.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken began a three-day visit to China to strengthen bilateral ties. This was reported by Reuters on Wednesday, April 24.
The head of the State Department arrived in Shanghai today, where for two days he will hold several events, in particular, meet with local businessmen. On Friday, Blinken will travel to Beijing, where he will hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and likely meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
It is indicated that Blinken’s visit is the final of a series of high-level contacts between the countries, thanks to which it was possible to significantly reduce tensions in bilateral relations, which were at their lowest level in beginning of last year.
It noted that Washington and Beijing have made little progress on a number of the most controversial issues, including China’s support for Russia in its war against Ukraine, Taiwan and curbing the flow of precursors from China to the United States for fentanyl production.
The United States has previously discussed imposing sanctions against Chinese banks over the country’s support for Russia, but, according to Reuters, the White House has no such plans yet. Washington is holding back on punishing China’s big banks, which analysts consider a “nuclear” option, because of the impact it could have on the global economy and US-China relations.
Blinken also plans to address China’s military activity around Taiwan and in the South China Sea, human rights, including Beijing’s treatment of Muslims in the western region of Xinjiang, and China’s ByteDance’s sale of TikTok app.
Source: korrespondent
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