BEIJING – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to China has yielded some progress on a number of issues, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday.
“The two sides made progress and reached agreement on some specific issues,” the Chinese foreign ministry quoted him as saying.
According to Xi, China’s authorities clearly stated their position on the issues that were discussed during Blinken’s visit. “President Xi said that Director [of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and member of the CCP Politburo] Wang Yi and State Councilor [and Foreign Minister] Qin Gang described their talks with Secretary Blinken as candid and in-depth,” Xi said, receiving the US diplomat. “The Chinese side has made its position clear, and the two sides have agreed to follow through the common understanding President [Joe] Biden and I had reached in Bali.”
Local media reported earlier that among the topics discussed by Qin and Blinken was the issue of Taiwan. Beijing demanded Washington adhere to the principle of one China.
The Chinese leader stressed that cooperation between the two countries should always rest on mutual respect and sincerity. “I hope that Secretary Blinken, through his visit, could make positive contributions to stabilizing China-US relations,” he added.
Blinken is visiting China from June 18-19. His visit was initially planned for February but did not take place due to the incident with a Chinese balloon, which was shot down by a US missile within the US airspace. Beijing claimed that it was a meteorological blimp but Washington insisted that the balloon had been used to collect “sensitive information.”
This is the first visit by a top US diplomat to China since October 2018. – Tass
