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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng on UN sidelines amid ‘open lines of communication’
- Han praises bilateral efforts aimed at ‘stepping up engagement’ and ‘working together’
- US side says to expect ‘follow-on senior engagements in the coming weeks’
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Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken struck conciliatory notes at the start of a meeting they held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday.
Referring to the visit that Blinken made to Beijing in June, Han said the trip “sent to the whole world the constructive message of China and the United States stepping up engagement and dialogue and working together to stabilise the bilateral relationship”.
Han also cited the meeting last year in Indonesia that US President Joe Biden held with his counterpart Xi Jinping, and asked for “more concrete action to deliver on the common understanding between our leaders for the sound and steady growth in China-US relations”.
The one-on-one meeting at the headquarters of China’s permanent mission to the UN followed two days of “candid” talks between US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, in Malta over the weekend.
Beijing announced last week that Han would attend the UN General Assembly instead of Wang, who is in Russia this week for annual strategic talks.
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