US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in China hours after Senate TikTok ban vote, new funding for Taiwan
- Blinken to meet US business community in Shanghai before talks with counterpart Wang Yi and possibly President Xi Jinping in Beijing, Reuters reports
- Trade and Ukraine likely topics on agenda, with Blinken expected to pressure China to urge its firms to stop supplying dual-use goods to Russia
Blinken, who has promised “intensive face-to-face diplomacy” during his stops in Shanghai and Beijing, is expected to stand firm on American interests while also attempting to stabilise bilateral relations.
Arriving in Shanghai on Wednesday afternoon, Blinken was greeted at the airport by US ambassador Nicholas Burns and the director of the Shanghai government’s foreign affairs office, Kong Fuan.
He is expected to meet the American business community in the city before travelling to Beijing to meet his counterpart Wang Yi and possibly President Xi Jinping on Friday, according to Reuters.
Blinken’s visit comes hours after the US Senate passed a bill to order short-video app TikTok to be divested from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, as well as a US$95 billion aid package for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan.