Antony Blinken and Qin Gang call meeting in Beijing ‘constructive’ and agree to continue talking
- US State Department called talks ‘candid, substantive, and constructive’
- Beijing mixed calls to continue high-level exchanges and expand cultural, business and educational exchanges with a warning about Taiwan
The talks at the Diaoyutai State Guest House lasted 5½ hours, and were described by the US State Department as “candid, substantive, and constructive”. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV called them “candid, in-depth and constructive communication on the overall relationship”.
“The secretary emphasised the importance of diplomacy and maintaining open channels of communication across the full range of issues to reduce the risk of misperception and miscalculation,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a readout.
After Blinken invited his counterpart to Washington, “they agreed to schedule a reciprocal visit at a mutually suitable time”, Miller added.
The Chinese side mixed calls to continue high-level exchanges and expand cultural, business and educational exchanges with a warning about Taiwan, one of the sorest points of contention between the two sides.
“Qin Gang pointed out that the Taiwan issue is the core of China’s core interests, the most important issue in Sino-US relations, and the most prominent risk,” CCTV said.
CCTV added that Qin emphasised the need to “discuss the increase of passenger flights between China and the United States, welcome more students, scholars, and businesspeople to visit each other’s countries, and provide support and convenience for this purpose”.
Blinken will meet Wang Yi, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s diplomacy adviser, on Monday and possibly Xi, US media reported.