China's Xi hails 'progress' on US relationship as Blinken visits Beijing

Second day of talks to ease tension begins

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. AP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday, a State Department official said, with China's leader hailing the “progress” made with regard to Beijing's relationship with Washington.

A meeting had been expected, but neither side had confirmed it would happen until an hour before the talks, which are seen as key to the success of the trip.

A snub by the Chinese leader would have been a major setback to efforts to restore and maintain communications at senior levels.

Mr Blinken has already held talks with Wang Yi, China’s top foreign policy official, in Beijing amid signs of some progress in his two-day mission to ease strained ties between the world’s largest economies.

“We are clear-eyed about the challenges posed by the PRC [People's Republic of China],” Mr Blinken told reporters in Beijing.

“The United States will advance a vision for the future that we share with so many others: a free, open, stable and prosperous world with countries upholding and updating the rules-based order that has for years safeguarded peace and security globally.”

The Secretary of State called the discussions he has had while in China “candid” and “substantive”.

“President [Joe] Biden asked me to travel to Beijing because he believes that the United States and China have an obligation and responsibility to manage our relationship,” Mr Blinken told Mr Xi at a press conference before their meeting began.

“The United States is committed to doing that. It’s in the interest of the United States, in the interests of China and in the interest of the world.”

The White House described Mr Blinken's conversation with Mr Xi as “constructive” and added that Mr Biden has long stressed the importance of “diplomacy” with China.

Mr Blinken's meeting with Mr Wang on Monday morning followed seven and a half hours of discussions with Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Sunday, which both sides described as “candid”.

The two discussed “a range of bilateral and global issues” that pertain to both China and the US, State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

He described the meeting between Mr Blinken and Mr Wang as a “productive discussion”.

The most senior US official to visit China in five years, Mr Blinken is making his trip at a time when the two sides are at odds over everything – from human rights and technology to trade and weapons sales to Taiwan.

Mr Blinken reiterated Washington's “One China” policy with regard to Taiwan and stressed that the US dos not support “Taiwan independence”.

“We remain opposed to any unilateral changes to the status quo by either side,” he said.

Mr Qin said on Sunday that Taiwan was “the core of the core interests” of China and “the most prominent risk” to China-US ties.

Mr Blinken's visit had been scheduled for February but was scrapped at the last minute after the US shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon spotted over American territory.

A senior State Department official said Mr Blinken and Mr Wang planned to go deeper into the specifics of core issues in their discussions on Monday.

The US side hopes to have more details to announce when Mr Blinken speaks at a news conference before his departure from China on Monday evening, the official said.

Signs of progress on some issues emerged on Sunday when both sides said they had discussed increasing flights between the two countries, many of which were scrapped during the coronavirus pandemic.

They also agreed to encourage educational exchanges, according to the Chinese statement, a sign that more student visas could be forthcoming.

Both sides expressed a desire to stabilise ties despite what one US official called their “profound” differences, and agreed that Mr Qin would visit Washington to continue the conversation, although no date was announced.

Mr Blinken’s visit is part of a renewed flurry of high-level US-China engagement that has gradually picked up momentum after the balloon incident derailed an attempt by US President Joe Biden and Mr Xi – who met late last year in Bali, Indonesia – to establish a steadier path for relations.

Mr Biden said on Saturday that he was “hoping that over the next several months, I’ll be meeting Xi again”.

Mr Xi said he was also following agreements made last year in Bali.

“The Chinese side has made our decision clear, and the two sides have agreed to follow through the common understandings President Biden and I had reached in Bali,” he told Mr Blinken on Monday.

“The two sides have also made progress and reached agreement on some specific issues. This is very good.”

Improved communication lines between the two sides are intended to decrease the chances of a military accident, most likely in the South China Sea, spiralling into a conflict.

The US and Chinese militaries recently had two dangerous confrontations between naval vessels and jets in the region, which the Pentagon described as “unnecessarily aggressive” and “dangerous”.

Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu – who is sanctioned by the US government – also recently rejected a meeting with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin during a defence forum in Singapore this month.