By Manal Abdel Fattah
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Director of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing.
The two sides had in-depth, substantive, and constructive discussions on areas of disagreement as well as areas of cooperation as part of responsibly managing competition between the United States and the People’s Republic of China.
The Minister discussed concerns about the PRC’s support for Russia’s defense industrial base and the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait as well as the PRC’s activities in the South China Sea and the need to avoid further escalation in the Middle East and the Korean Peninsula.
Secretary and Director Wang, in follow-up to the Woodside Summit between President Biden and President Xi last November, also discussed next steps on a set of commitments made by the two leaders on strengthening counter-drug cooperation and military communications as well as talks on the risks and safety of artificial intelligence and facilitating people-to-people exchanges.
The Secretary stressed that the United States will continue to defend our interests and values and the interests of our allies and partners, including human rights and economic issues.
