This Sunday, June 18 marked the start of the first trip by an American diplomat to Chinese soil in almost five years. On this first day of visit, Antony Blinken, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, went to Beijing to ease tensions with China. Washington praised “constructive” and “honest” and welcomed the agreement given by the head of Chinese diplomacy to an upcoming visit to Washington.

Mr. Blinken met his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang, at an ornate state villa in the ancient Diaoyutai Gardens in Beijing, where his Chinese hosts were then to hold a banquet. While no one was expecting major progress as there are so many frictional issues – especially on trade and Taiwan – the idea was to initiate a diplomatic thaw and maintain a dialogue to “responsibly manage the Sino-Chinese relationship”. American,” according to the State Department.

The two men had “frank, substantive, and constructive” talks, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said after the meeting. Mr. Blinken particularly underscored “the importance of diplomacy and maintaining open channels of communication on all issues to reduce the risk of misperception and miscalculation,” he said.

Antony Blinken also invited Mr. Qin and the two men agreed to “schedule such a visit at a mutually convenient date,” to be determined later, State Department spokesman Matt said. Miller. For his part, the Chinese foreign minister reminded his American counterpart that relations between Beijing and Washington were “at the lowest point” since the beginning of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1979, according to comments reported by state television CCTV.

Mr. Blinken’s visit is the first by a US Secretary of State to China since the October 2018 trip of his predecessor, Mike Pompeo, who was then the mastermind of the strategy of confrontation with Beijing in recent years. years of Donald Trump’s presidency. The Biden administration has since maintained this hard line, going even further in some areas, including through the imposition of export controls to limit Beijing’s purchase and manufacture of high-end chips “used in applications. military”.

But she wants to cooperate with China on crucial issues such as the climate. Mr. Blinken’s visit also comes as part of China is experiencing a heat wave, with a new temperature record for mid-June crossed Friday in Beijing, at 39.4 ° C.

“Mr. Blinken’s brief visit won’t solve any of the big problems in U.S.-China relations,” said Russel, now vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York. . “But his visit may well rekindle a much-needed face-to-face dialogue and send a signal that the two countries are moving from angry rhetoric at the media to more sober discussions in behind closed doors “.