What is sought from the visit is, above all, a dialogue connection between the great powers.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has started his visit to China.
Blinken will participate in the negotiations in Beijing today and tomorrow. He is also expected to meet the President of China Xi Jinping.
Blinken was originally scheduled to travel to China in February. However, the visit was canceled at the last minute when the United States said a Chinese spy balloon had hovered in its airspace.
The relationship between the United States and China has been tense in recent years. The relationship between the great powers has been strained by, for example, the situation in Taiwan, trade relations and human rights issues.
The US Secretary of State last visited China just under five years ago. We want to avoid getting into a conflict, no breakthroughs or changes are expected from Blinken’s visit, said the US Deputy Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink to reporters this week. According to Kritenbrink, the minimum goal is to reduce the risk of misjudgments and avoid derailing into conflict.
The experts interviewed by STT, research professor, also have similar expectations with Mikael Mattlin From the Institute of Foreign Policy (Upi) and a specialist researcher at the National Defense University Matti Purase.
– The end result will probably be that both state that there were honest discussions and that’s all, Puranen told STT earlier this week.
The countries’ foreign ministers spoke on the phone earlier this week.
The United States said that Blinken, among other things, spoke about the importance of open lines of communication to avoid conflicts and misjudgments, and made it clear that the United States will continue its diplomatic activities to highlight both concerns and possible areas of cooperation.
In the Chinese version, a more negative tone emerged: it was said, among other things, by the foreign minister Qin Gang’s warned that the countries have faced new difficulties and challenges in their relationship during the current year. According to the foreign minister, it is clear who is responsible for the matter, the press release said.
STT