Blinken heads to Beijing hoping to calm fears of a US-China break

SMA NEWS – WASHINGTON
US Secretary of State to hold meetings on June 18-19 and may meet with president Xi Jinping
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang earlier told the US to stop meddling in China’s affairs
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken flies to Beijing this weekend with expectations low that he will make headway on the long list of disputes between the US and China. But he and his Chinese counterparts can achieve at least one thing, say analysts — show that the world’s most important bilateral relationship is not about to fall off the rails.
Blinken will hold meetings in China on June 18-19 and may meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, sources said. He will be the highest-ranking US government official to visit China since Biden took office in January 2021.
In a pre-trip briefing on Wednesday, US officials said they have no expectation the trip will yield a breakthrough in how the US and China deal with each other. That followed a tense evening phone call with Blinken on Tuesday during which Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang told the US to stop meddling in China’s affairs.
The visit, which could set the stage for a flurry of other diplomatic engagements including a meeting between Xi and US President Joe Biden later in the year, would show that the two rivals have not given up on diplomacy.