US Secretary of State arrives in Beijing, preparing for important meetings

In the early morning of June 18, the plane carrying US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed at the airport in Beijing. This is the first visit to China by a US Secretary of State since Mike Pompeo's trip in October 2018. Secretary Blinken is also the highest-ranking US official to visit China since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021.

The plane carrying Secretary of State Blinken at the airport in Beijing on June 18.

Mr. Blinken will stay in China for two days and is expected to meet with Foreign Minister Qin Gang, Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Wang Yi and possibly President Xi Jinping.

The purpose of the visit is said to be to establish open and sustainable channels of communication to ensure that competition between the two powers does not escalate.

Secretary of State Blinken steps off the plane

Mr. Blinken had planned to visit China in February, but had to abruptly postpone it after a Chinese balloon flew over US airspace and was subsequently shot down.

A senior US State Department official said during a refueling stop in Tokyo on his way to Beijing that the US and China both recognize the need for high-level channels of communication. "We are at a critical point in the relationship where we need to reduce the risk of miscalculation or, as our Chinese friends often say, prevent the relationship from going south. That is important," the official said.

Welcoming Secretary of State Blinken was Mr. Yang Tao, Director of the Department of North America and Oceania of the Chinese Foreign Ministry .

Secretary of State Blinken himself, in a press conference on June 16 before the visit, also listed three main goals: establishing a crisis management mechanism, promoting interests, clarifying concerns of the US and its allies, and exploring areas of potential cooperation. "If we want to ensure that competition with China does not turn into conflict, the place to start is communication," Mr. Blinken said.

US officials have been less optimistic about a breakthrough during Secretary Blinken’s visit. However, there is an expectation that the trip will pave the way for bilateral meetings in the coming months, possibly with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, and even a meeting of the two countries’ leaders at multilateral conferences later this year.

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