BEIJING: China’s top diplomat Wang Yi will hold a meeting with his US counterpart Antony Blinken on the sidelines of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) talks in Laos, China’s foreign ministry confirmed on Friday.
In a statement, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said that Foreign Minister Wang Yi will meet with Antony Blinken in Laos. The two top diplomats would discuss issues of common concern during the meeting.
The spokesperson did not provide details when the meeting would take place between the two sides, but said they “will release information in a timely manner about the specific time of the meeting and the circumstances of the interaction. “You can stay tuned,” she added.
China-US Ties
Earlier, Foreign Minister Wang on Thursday met with Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the ASEAN talks in Laos, which started with the South China Sea and the conflict in Myanmar high on the agenda.
The meeting took place a day following Wang held talks in China with Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. Beijing is a close political and economic ally of Moscow, and NATO members have labeled China a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
US Secretary of State Blinken said earlier, he was planning to meet with Chinse Foreign Minister Wang in Laos.
“I speak to him on regular basis, and I’ll be seeing him next week, in fact, in Laos,” the US top diplomat said during a security forum in the US state of Colorado. Despite disagreements in various key issues, ties between Washington and Beijing have stabilized since a summit between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in November 2023.
But the two sides remain at loggerheads over everything from trade to human rights and the status of Taiwan.
