US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink will visit China today, June 4.
A senior US diplomat will arrive in China today, June 4, as part of a series of meetings Washington is trying to arrange to ease tensions with its “strategic competitor” and prevent further deterioration in relations, the South China Morning Post reported.
US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink will visit China from June 4-10 to "discuss key issues in the bilateral relationship," according to a statement from the US State Department.
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Accompanying him will be Ms. Sarah Beran, Senior Director for China and Taiwan Affairs at the US National Security Council.
News of Mr. Kritenbrink's visit came after CIA Director William Burns secretly visited China last month and a meeting between US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Politburo member and Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China, Wang Yi.
Last week, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao met with his US counterpart Gina Raimondo in Washington, before traveling to Michigan to meet US Trade Representative Katherine Tai on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting.
However, the signals of increased engagement have not yet extended to the military sphere.
At the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on June 3, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin criticized after it was reported that his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu refused to meet him on the sidelines of the event. Reuters cited information from the Pentagon saying that the two officials shook hands at a dinner party on June 2, but there was no substantive exchange.
Beijing's reluctance to engage in dialogue would undermine efforts to maintain peace in the region, Austin said. "For responsible defense leaders, the right time is any time," he said, adding that Washington would not stand for Beijing's "coercion and bullying" of US partners and allies.
In response, Chinese officials in Singapore said that Secretary Austin and other US officials had distorted the truth and undermined the One China principle through arms sales and increased exchanges with Taiwan.
President Xi Jinping calls on China to prepare for the "worst-case" scenario
In November 2022, Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden outlined a roadmap to improve relations through a "ladder" of visits by senior finance, trade and diplomatic officials, potentially leading to Xi's visit to San Francisco (California, USA) next November to attend the APEC summit.
Observers say a focus of Mr. Kritenbrink's trip could be the possibility of Mr. Biden visiting China.
After visiting China, diplomat Kritenbrink will fly to Auckland to attend the US-New Zealand Strategic Dialogue, before returning home.
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