JAKARTA: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi on Thursday on the sidelines of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meetings in Jakarta, the latest in a series of increased interactions between the rival superpowers.
Wang is representing his country at the Jakarta meetings involving the ASEAN and partner states after Beijing said Foreign Minister Qin Gang would not participate due to health reasons.
Wang Yi and Blinken were seated across from each other in a hotel’s meeting room in the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta and they did not speak to the media, Reuters reported.
Blinken held meetings with Qin and Wang in Beijing in June, during the first trip to China by a US secretary of state in 5 years. It was aimed at easing the serious rivalry between the two superpowers, which are also the largest economies in the world.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited China earlier this month and the US climate envoy John Kerry would also go to Beijing next week.
China’s envoy to the US held a rare meeting at the Pentagon on Wednesday with the top US defense official for Asia, the Pentagon said, in negotiations that followed Washington’s criticism of Chinese reluctance to engage in military communications.
Efforts to clear way for US-China summit
Observers see the meetings as part of efforts to pave the way for a summit between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping later in the year, but tensions remain high.
Blinken’s last meeting with Wang Yi in China appeared to be the thorniest of his trip, with the top Chinese diplomat telling him the root cause of their tensions was Washington’s misperceptions of Beijing and its misguided China polices.
While US is trying to put a floor under ties, which China has described as at their lowest ebb since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the two sides remain at odds over many issues, including security, geopolitical, and trade issues.
