Blinken talks rocky US-China relations with new Chinese international minister

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with new Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang over the cellphone and mentioned the US-China relationship.

Washington,UPDATED: Jan 2, 2023 09:19 IST

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives at Henri Coanda airport, in Bucarest, Romania, on November 29, 2022, forward of a NATO assembly. (Reuters photograph)

By Reuters: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with incoming Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang over the cellphone on Sunday, Blinken mentioned on Twitter, after China final week appointed its ambassador to the United States to be its new international minister.

Blinken mentioned he mentioned the US-China relationship and sustaining open strains of communication in his cellphone name with Qin.

China on Friday appointed Qin, its ambassador to the United States and a trusted aide of President Xi Jinping, to be its new international minister, as Beijing and Washington search to stabilize rocky relations.

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Qin, 56, replaces Wang Yi, who had been international minister for the previous decade. Wang, 69, was promoted to the politburo of the Chinese Communist Party in October and is predicted to play a much bigger position in Chinese international coverage.

Though Qin sounded optimistic about US-China relations throughout his comparatively temporary, 17-month stint as ambassador in Washington – his predecessor had held the submit for eight years – his tenure nonetheless coincided with deteriorating ties between the 2 superpowers.

Wang’s stint as international minister noticed a pointy rise in tensions between Beijing and Washington on a variety of points starting from commerce to Taiwan.

READ: High-level US delegation to go to China this week after Xi-Biden talks

Published On:

Jan 2, 2023