Will the US and China Meet in Beijing This Month? "It Could Happen If Conditions Allow"

US Secretary of State to Visit China Within Weeks... May Meet Xi Jinping

The United States is resuming its plan to visit China, which was aborted due to the Chinese reconnaissance balloon incident in February. Analysts suggest this indicates an attempt to restore the deteriorating U.S.-China relationship, as high-level contacts between the two countries are resuming.

On the 6th (local time), Bloomberg News reported that U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken plans to visit China within weeks. Citing anonymous sources, the news agency stated that "(Secretary Blinken's) visit timing is still fluid," adding that "Chinese President Xi Jinping may be among the senior officials Blinken will meet."

Secretary Blinken originally planned to visit Beijing in February, but the visit was canceled as U.S.-China relations rapidly cooled following the incident in which a Chinese reconnaissance balloon entered U.S. airspace and was shot down by the U.S. military.

A State Department spokesperson responded to Bloomberg's report by saying, "There is no schedule to announce," but added, "The postponed visit by Secretary Blinken to China could take place if conditions permit."

Bloomberg analyzed that Secretary Blinken's planned visit is an attempt to partially restore the U.S.-China relationship, which has worsened due to intense military tensions and trade sanctions.

Since the Chinese reconnaissance balloon incident, President Joe Biden and President Xi have not resumed any contact, including phone calls.

Secretary Blinken's visit schedule is the first planned high-level U.S.-China consultation since the U.S.-China summit in November last year, and as high-level contacts between the two countries have recently resumed, attention has been focused on whether Blinken's visit will be reinitiated.

Daniel Kritenbrink, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and Sarah Beran, Senior Director for China and Taiwan at the National Security Council (NSC), held talks yesterday in China with Yang Tao, Director-General of the Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ma Zhaoxu, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, respectively.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

On the 5th, John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House National Security Council (NSC), warned about the recent increase in Chinese military provocations, saying, "Someone could get hurt soon."

On the 3rd, a Chinese warship threatened the U.S. missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon by crossing its path in the Taiwan Strait, sailing as close as approximately 150 yards (137 meters). On the 26th of last month, a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft and a Chinese J-16 fighter jet engaged in a close flyby over the South China Sea, escalating tensions.