U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is poised to travel to Beijing on February 5-6 and meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, Politico reported on Monday, citing sources.
The top U.S. diplomat will likely discuss the conflict in Ukraine, Beijing’s nuclear arsenal, counternarcotics cooperation and the release of U.S. citizens that are in custody in China, the report said. He is also expected to raise the issue of unfreezing the bilateral military dialogue that was suspended following then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan in August.
The U.S. Department of State and the Chinese Embassy in Washington haven’t responded yet to a request from TASS to confirm the trip. U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed at a meeting on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Indonesia in November that Blinken would travel to China at the start of 2023.
The Wall Street Journal said on Monday that US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen would meet with China’s Vice Premier Liu He in Switzerland on Wednesday. According to the report, US and Chinese officials recently resumed communication that was interrupted following Pelosi’s trip. Yellen is considering a visit to China after Blinken, the newspaper said.
