Blinken’s China Trip Yields Best Possible Result: More Talks
- China, US agree to resume talking but few specifics appear
- More visits to come but military contacts still lacking
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken got a muted reception when he arrived in Beijing: a lone Foreign Ministry official there to meet him and no red carpet, just red lines on the runway that social media users joked were a symbol of China’s unwillingness to compromise on issues like Taiwan.
But as he left less than 48 hours later, Blinken said the trip had achieved its goal because the two sides had restored some senior-level communications. President Xi Jinping pronounced the progress “very good,” warm words from a taciturn leader who held off confirming a meeting with Blinken — the highest-level US official to visit Beijing in five years — until the last minute.