Headline Roundup • June 18th, 2023
Secretary Blinken Meets With Chinese President, Foreign Minister in Beijing
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Secretary of State Antony Blinken became the first U.S. cabinet-level official to visit China since 2018 this weekend, and met with China's foreign minister before also meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Details: On Sunday, Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang spoke directly for over seven hours in what the state department called “candid, substantive, and constructive talks.” Topics included the U.S. fentanyl crisis, flights between the two countries, and Taiwan. Blinken then met with Xi for roughly 35 minutes, but it wasn't immediately clear what they discussed.
For Context: The talks were scheduled for earlier this year but were postponed amid the Chinese spy balloon controversy. Last August, disregarding aggressive rhetoric from China, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, prompting more tension between the U.S. and China.
Key Quotes: "It is absolutely vital that we have these kinds of communications," Blinken said. "This is something we’re going to keep working on." A Chinese readout of the Blinken-Xi meeting said the two sides "made progress."
How The Media Covered It: Wall Street Journal (Center bias) focused on geopolitical nuances of the US-China relationship and the circumstances surrounding the meetings. Updated 6/19/23 at 10:03 a.m. ET.
Featured Coverage of this Story
LEAH MILLIS/PRESS POOL
While preparing for Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit, China’s leadership has had its sights on two sets of audiences other than the U.S.
On Sunday, Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang had seven-and-a-half hours of direct talks and a dinner meeting on a host of topics, with the two agreeing to work together on increasing the number of flights between the U.S. and China, a senior state department official said.
Yet before Blinken arrived in Beijing on Sunday morning, the first visit by an American cabinet-level official since 2019, Chinese officials, state media...
Xinhua/Shutterstock
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has wrapped up a rare trip to Beijing where he met China’s president, Xi Jinping, concluding a high-stakes visit aimed at stabilising spiralling relations.
Speaking at a press briefing in Beijing before his departure, Blinken said he had “an important conversation” with Xi during the 35-minute encounter and stressed it was the responsibility of both countries to find a path forward.
“In every meeting, I stressed that direct engagement and sustained communication at senior levels is the best way to responsibly manage our differences...
AP
Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met in Beijing Monday, shaking hands in front of photographers.
At a press conference afterward, Blinken addressed the media without Xi, telling reporters the relationship between their two nations constitutes "one of the most consequential in the world" and "both the United States and China have an obligation to manage this relationship responsibly."
"I came to Beijing to strengthen high-level channels of communication to make clear our positions and intentions in areas of disagreement and to explore areas where we might...
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