Blinken meets Chinese President Xi in bid to ease soaring US-China tensions
By Associated Press
June 19, 2023 2:19am
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday as he wrapped up a two-day high-stakes visit to Beijing aimed at easing soaring tensions between the countries.
The meeting at the Great Hall of the People had been expected and was seen as key to the success of the trip, but neither side confirmed it would happen until a State Department official announced it just an hour beforehand.
In footage of the meeting released by state broadcaster CCTV, Xi is heard to say “The two sides have agreed to follow through on the common understandings President Biden and I have reached in Bali.”
In earlier meetings between Blinken and senior Chinese officials, the two sides expressed willingness to talk but showed little inclination to bend from hardened positions on disagreements ranging from trade, to Taiwan, to human rights conditions in China and Hong Kong, to Chinese military assertiveness in the South China Sea, to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
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https://nypost.com/2023/06/19/blinken-opens-second-day-of-talks-in-beijing-on-mission-to-ease-soaring-us-china-tensions/
