Senior US diplomat Daniel Kritenbrink to visit China amid tense ties

Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink will ‘discuss key issues in the bilateral relationship’

Kritenbrink’s trip is part of ongoing efforts to bolster communications between Beijing and Washington

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Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink is scheduled to visit China as part of ongoing efforts to reduce tensions between Washington and Beijing. Photo: AP

Published: 3:15am, 4 Jun 2023Updated: 3:33am, 4 Jun 2023

A senior US diplomat will visit Beijing next week, the State Department said on Saturday, the latest in a string of meetings as Washington tries to ease tensions with its “strategic competitor” and prevent relations from deteriorating further.

Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink will travel to China and New Zealand from June 4-10 to “discuss key issues in the bilateral relationship”, the State Department said in a statement with no further details. He will be accompanied on the China leg by National Security Council Senior Director for China and Taiwan Affairs Sarah Beran.

Kritenbrink’s visit follows reports of a secret trip to China by CIA Director William Burns last month and a meeting between US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and the director of China’s Central Foreign Affairs Commission, Wang Yi, in Austria, also in May, as part of efforts to bolster communication.

And last week, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao met with US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in Washington before travelling to Michigan to sit down with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation trade meeting.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, right, and his Chinese counterpart, Li Shangfu, at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday. Photo: AP

But these early signs of bolstered contacts have not extended to the military. Beijing has continued to rebuff US efforts to improve defence ties, a stance that US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin criticised at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday after Chinese Defence Minister General Li Shangfu reportedly refused to meet him on the sidelines.

Beijing’s reluctance to talk undermines efforts to maintain peace in a region where the two rivals are increasing their military firepower, Austin said at the conference, Asia’s top security summit, which wraps up Sunday.