WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will hold a meeting with a senior Chinese official in Washington on Friday on the eve of Taiwan’s vote.
Antony Blinken, briefly back in Washington in between his latest Middle East crisis trip and a visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, will hold talks with Liu Jianchao, who heads the international affairs of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee, according to US State Department public schedule.
Taiwan heads to presidential and parliamentary elections on Saturday.
Earlier, US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said Washington has “deep confidence in Taiwan’s democratic process and believe it is for people of Taiwan to decide their next leader.
Blinken to Meet Senior Chinese Official on Eve of Taiwan Elections
US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, met in November in San Francisco where the two leaders agreed to restore military talks, seen by the US as critical to preventing catastrophes.
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Earlier on Tuesday, the US and China concluded two days of military dialogue in Washington, the Pentagon said, the latest engagement between the two sides since they agreed to resume military-to-military relations.
The top US military officials, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Charles Q. Brown, also held a virtual talk with his Chinese counterpart, General Liu Zhenli, last month.
Pentagon said that the communication between the two militaries is vital to averting a miscalculation from spiraling into crisis.
Antony Blinken will meet separately at the State Department with Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, AFP reported.
