Blinken travels to China to ensure "open" and "responsible" communication with the US
The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, will travel to Beijing this week, where he will meet with senior government officials to discuss the importance of keeping communication between the two countries open and managing their bilateral relationship "responsibly".
Blinken will also go to the United Kingdom on this trip, which will take place from 16 to 21 June, the State Department confirmed in a statement on Wednesday.
During his stay in Beijing, the head of the country's foreign relations will meet with senior officials, with whom he will also discuss "issues of bilateral interest, global and regional affairs, and potential cooperation on shared transnational challenges".
In London, Blinken will attend the Ukraine Recovery Conference to help mobilise international public and private sector support to assist Ukraine in its recovery.
While there, the State Department announced, he will also meet with counterparts from the UK, Ukraine and other partners and allies.
The confirmation of the trip to China comes after Blinken held a telephone conversation last night with his Chinese counterpart, Qin Gang, in which he asked him to "keep the lines of communication open" to avoid conflict, his office said in a statement.
In addition, the American assured that his country would continue to use diplomatic channels to deal with issues of concern, as well as to delve into possible areas of cooperation with the Asian giant.
For his part, Qin asked Blinken to stop Washington from interfering in China's internal affairs, Chinese state media reported today.
The Foreign Minister demanded that the US cease its efforts to harm China's sovereign security and development interests "in the name of rivalry", according to the pro-government Global Times.
Among China's concerns, the minister mentioned the Taiwanese issue and called for US respect and for the US to take practical steps to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state in Bali last November at the G20 summit in Indonesia.
Relations between the two powers have been strained since February when Washington detected and shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon over its territory, which China claimed was a weather balloon that had strayed off course.
The event prompted Blinken to cancel an expected trip to Beijing at the last minute. Since then, officials in Joe Biden's administration have indicated that they would like to see an expansion of communication channels between the two countries.
At a press briefing in late April, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Biden hopes to have a call with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jingping, "soon".
The leaders have not held a bilateral conversation since their meeting at the G20 summit in Indonesia in November last year.
