2023-09-18 23:45:08
By Humeyra Pamuk and Michael Martina
NEW YORK (Reuters) – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met this Monday with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng before the United Nations General Assembly, at a time when the two largest The world’s economies hold a series of meetings to stabilize the complicated relationship between them.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Malta for 12 hours last weekend. Both sides described the conversations as “sincere, substantive and constructive.”
The meeting between Blinken and Han was the latest in a series of talks between officials from both sides that could pave the way for a meeting between Presidents Joe Biden, of the US, and Xi Jinping, of China.
“The world expects us to responsibly manage our relationships,” Blinken said before meeting Han. “The United States is committed to this.”
Blinken further added: “From the U.S. perspective, face-to-face diplomacy is the best way to deal with areas where we disagree, and also the best way to explore areas of cooperation between us.”
Blinken and other US officials visited China this year to improve relations and ensure communication between the powers after the Americans shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon that was flying over the United States.
Biden expressed disappointment this month when Xi Jinping did not attend the G20 summit in India. The next chance for them to see each other is at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco in November.
“Currently, China-US relations face many difficulties and challenges,” Han told Blinken, adding that the Chinese expect efforts from the Americans to implement consensus by the leaders of the two countries and promote the stable development of a relationship.
“This world needs a healthy relationship between China and the US,” Han said.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Michael Martina)
#tense #relationship #Secretary #State #meets #with..