US TOP DIPLOMAT BLINKEN VISITS CHINA FOR TOUGH TALKS

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Shanghai on Wednesday to tackle an array of unresolved issues that threaten the stability of US-China relations.

Blinken will meet with business leaders before traveling to Beijing on Friday for talks with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and a possible meeting with President Xi Jinping.

Tensions between the world's two largest economies have eased noticeably since his last visit in June. At the time, Blinken was the highest-ranking US official to visit China in five years.

The trip was followed by a meeting between the two countries' presidents in November.

'Face to face diplomacy matters'

Although relations between Washington and Beijing have thawed, the countries have made little progress in curbing China's supply of chemicals used to make fentanyl. Taiwan remains a flashpoint, and tensions are rising over China's support for Russia in its war in Ukraine.

In a short video statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, with the Shanghai skyline in the background, Blinken said stemming the flow of fentanyl and synthetic opioids from China into the US was one of several issues he was in China to work on.

"Face to face diplomacy matters," he said. "It is important for avoiding miscommunications and misperceptions, and to advance the interests of the American people."

China's partnership with Russia

Blinken will also press China to stop its companies from re-equipping and re-supplying Russia's defense industrial base.

Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022, just days after agreeing to a "no limits" partnership with Beijing. And while China has steered clear of supplying arms, US officials warn that Chinese companies are sending dual-use technology that helps Russia's war effort.

During the visit, Blinken is also expected to discuss Chinese trade practices and raise human rights issues, including China's treatment of Muslims in its western region of Xinjiang.

dh/fb (AFP, Reuters)

2024-04-24T23:48:34Z dg43tfdfdgfd