Antony Blinken To Visit China To Meet Xi Jinping's Diplomats In February Amid Souring Ties

Amid tensions between Washington and Beijing, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will be visiting China next month to meet his Chinese counterpart, Qin Gang.

What Happened: Blinken will be in Beijing on Feb. 5-6, Washington-based diplomats familiar with travel plans told Politico. 

Blinken's much-anticipated trip to China came months after President Joe Biden met the Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Indonesia in November – where the top leaders pledged to "maintain open lines of communication."

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Blinken's visit would show if the Biden-Xi November meeting paved the way for calmer U.S.-China ties at a time when the relationship has soured over Taiwan tension and trade dispute. 

Meanwhile, neither U.S. nor China has confirmed the visit yet. 

Last week, Former U.S. President Barack Obama‘s advisor predicted a "calmer environment" in U.S.-China relations in the coming months. He said China would prepare to lay the groundwork for the Chinese President‘s potential visit to the U.S. in November for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders meeting.

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