Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, arrived in Beijing, China on Sunday. With this move, he became the first diplomat of the United States after Mike Pompeo to visit China and resume the diplomatic talks with the Dragon. Blinken on Sunday is said to have held extensive talks with Qin Gang, his Chinese Counterpart, on a range of a plethora of issues that also included the Taiwan issue and the Ukraine- Russia war.

Blinken arrived in Beijing on Sunday morning and held an extended round of talks with Qin, apart from attending a lavish state dinner. The two-day visit of the US Secretary of State to China comes ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Washington and his meeting with US President Joe Biden on June 22.

The talks between the two Economic powerhouse are likely to include deepening defence cooperation and firming up the Quad alliance of the US, India, Australia and Japan, which the Dragon alleges is aimed at containing it. Before Blinken flew down to Beijing, Jake Sullivan, the US National Security Adviser, stated that the US expects a “transformational moment” in Indian ties during Modi’s visit to Washington and smartly played down the US Secretary of State’s visit to Beijing which is at the loggerheads with India on the Border issue. 

Sullivan, in Tokyo, stated that “Secretary Blinken’s trip to China will be a significant event, but it’s likely not even the most significant event of next week when it comes to US foreign policy,” Sullivan told reporters in Tokyo on June 16.”

Blinken’s visit is largely seen as an attempt to keep the diplomatic communication channels open between Washington and Beijing so that bilateral relations can be ‘managed responsibly’.

This visit is seen as a major move to lower the rising temperature between the world’s two largest economies who are at odds with each other on an array of issues concerning trade, technology and regional security. Political Analysts and Foreign Policy Experts largely say that the visit signals a desire by both sides to restore and restart the engagement, however they also cast doubt on the prospects of a breakthrough of this 2-day visit of Blinken. 

Antony Blinken is the first top US diplomat to visit China since a brief stop 5 years ago, in 2018 by his predecessor Mike Pompeo, who later championed an all-out confrontation with the Dragon in the final years of Donald Trump’s presidency.

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