In the latest high-level discussion between the opposing powers in recent days, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with China’s vice president on Monday.
Blinken to meet China VP: Blinken will meet Vice President Han Zheng in New York on the fringes of the UN General Assembly, according to the State Department’s official calendar.
The United States is closely watching Beijing’s personnel changes as the meetings are taking place. In July, President Xi Jinping chose Qin Gang to serve as the foreign minister, replacing the seasoned politician Wang Yi.
US officials had initially anticipated Wang to go to the annual UN gathering, where he may have had a brief encounter with President Joe Biden, but China announced that Han, a much less well-known figure, would go instead.
However, Wang, who is also the director of the Communist Party’s foreign policy, met with Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, over the weekend in Malta.
Additionally, The world’s two largest economies frequently experience friction, which the United States says it is keen to handle by maintaining open lines of communication with China.
This year, Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen both visited Beijing, reestablishing relations that had almost entirely dried up during the pandemic.