Blinken calls on the US and China to manage their differences "responsibly"
US Chief of State Antony Blinken on Thursday defended the need to manage differences between the United States and China "responsibly" as he arrived in Beijing to discuss those differences with the Chinese authorities.
"We have an obligation to our people - and indeed to the world - to manage relations between our two countries in a responsible way," Blinken said on his second trip to China in less than a year.
Blinken is expected to address a number of complex issues, including China's support for Russia and its relationship with Taiwan, while Beijing could raise trade concerns, including measures against the popular video app TikTok.
Upon arriving in Beijing, the secretary of state immediately went to a private meeting with leading Chinese academics.
On Friday, he will have meetings all day with Chinese political leaders, including a possible meeting with President Xi Jinping, which has not been announced by local officials.
"I think it's important to stress the value - rather the necessity - of talking to each other, exposing our differences, which are real, seeking to resolve them," Blinken said in Shanghai, where he began his visit to China on Wednesday.
There he met with the local head of the Chinese Communist Party, Chen Jining, and attended a basketball game between two teams with American players on their squads.
Chen welcomed Blinken, speaking at times in English, and noted the importance of US companies in the city, China's financial capital.
"Whether we choose cooperation or confrontation affects the welfare of both peoples, both countries and the future of humanity," Chen said.
Complex issues
Blinken also met in Shanghai with students at the local campus of New York University and with business leaders, to whom he said the two countries must ensure that "the economic relationship works in a way that is mutually beneficial".
But the more complex issues could arise in Beijing, where Blinken must call for restraint toward Taiwan, which is preparing to inaugurate a new president in May, and raise US concerns about Chinese trade practices, a key issue for President Joe Biden in an election year.
The secretary of state hopes to further defuse tensions between the world's two largest economies, which have clearly been on a downward trend since his June visit and the meeting between Presidents Biden and Xi in November.
US officials have indicated that China appears more open to Western concerns.
However, China has expressed anger at a number of actions by the Biden administration that it believes are hurting the Chinese economy.
Congress recently passed a bill that would force the Chinese owners of TikTok to sell the platform to avoid being banned in the US.
Biden supported the bill on the grounds that TikTok, which is popular among young people, poses security and privacy risks, but China claims it is unfair economic coercion.
The US leader has also advocated steep tariff increases against China if he is re-elected in November.
