U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping and senior Chinese officials, stressing the importance of “responsibly managing” the differences between the United States and China as the two sides butted heads over a number of contentious bilateral, regional and global issues,
AP reports.
Blinken met with Xi in Beijing after holding talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Public Security Minister Wang Xiaohong.
Talks between the two sides have increased in recent months, even as differences have grown.
Blinken sounded a positive note on recent progress made in bilateral cooperation, including in military communications, counternarcotics and artificial intelligence.
“We are committed to maintaining and strengthening lines of communication to advance that agenda, and again deal responsibly with our differences so we avoid any miscommunications, any misperceptions, any miscalculations,” he said.
Xi stressed that China and the U.S. must seek common ground “rather than engage in vicious competition.”
“China is happy to see a confident, open, prosperous and thriving United States,” the Chinese leader said. “We hope the U.S. can also look at China’s development in a positive light. This is a fundamental issue that must be addressed.”
