During the second day of his trip, Secretary of State Blinken holds a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and China's top diplomat.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Monday, following his recent discussions with China's top diplomat Wang Yi.
Blinken arrived in China on June 17 for a two-day visit, with the primary objective of establishing and maintaining open lines of communication with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as pursued by the Biden administration.
On Sunday, Blinken engaged in a candid and constructive meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, as confirmed by officials from both sides.
According to China's state-run media, the meeting between Xi and Blinken will take place in the near future. Prior to this, Blinken and Wang exchanged greetings and posed for photographs before entering their closed-door meeting.
In a statement issued after the talks with Wang, the State Department emphasized Blinken's emphasis on responsibly managing competition between the United States and the People's Republic of China (PRC) through open channels of communication, ensuring that it does not escalate into conflict.
During their discussions, Wang criticized the United States for its flawed perception of China, which he believes has led to the strained bilateral relationship. Wang urged the U.S. side to engage in deep reflection and cooperate with Beijing.
The Chinese statement also revealed Wang's demand for the United States to lift sanctions against China and support its territorial claim over Taiwan.
In recent years, the U.S. government has imposed trade restrictions on Chinese companies and entities, including the addition of 28 Chinese entities to a U.S. blacklist in March due to alleged ties to the Iranian military.
Before Blinken's trip, a group of GOP lawmakers urged him to include a stopover in Taiwan in his itinerary, given the repeated threats by the communist regime to use military force to annex the self-ruled island.
Blinken's visit to China, the highest-ranking by a U.S. official since President Joe Biden took office, has drawn criticism from some Republicans and experts who view it as a mistake, particularly in light of China's recent aggressive tactics against the United States.
Earlier this year, the U.S. military had to shoot down a Chinese surveillance balloon that flew over the continental United States for about a week. Additionally, the Biden administration recently disclosed China's operation of a base with intelligence-collecting capabilities in Cuba.
Concerns have been raised about whether Blinken used his face-to-face meetings with CCP officials to address China's human rights violations. Critics argue that discussions should have included China's persecution of Uyghurs, oppression in Hong Kong, and the suppression of religious freedom and human rights.
China has systematically targeted Christians, Falun Gong practitioners, Tibetans, and Uyghurs. In Xinjiang, over a million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities are detained in Chinese internment camps, where they face various forms of abuse and forced indoctrination.
Some individuals, including Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch, emphasize the importance of Blinken raising concerns about China's persecution of Uyghurs, which the U.S. government has labeled as genocide.
