U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken kicked off a three-day visit to China on Wednesday to hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and other senior officials in a bid to stabilize bilateral ties amid tensions over a host of issues.
The top U.S. diplomat arrived in Shanghai, returning to the Asian country for the first time in 10 months. Blinken may meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing during his stay.
He is expected to express concerns over China's support for Russia's defense industry and discuss other high-priority issues including tensions in the South China Sea as well as around Taiwan, which Beijing views as part of its territory.
His China trip follows a visit by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen earlier this month after Xi and U.S. President Joe Biden confirmed in phone talks the importance of enhanced high-level bilateral dialogue to stabilize relations.
While China has welcomed Blinken's trip, it sharply reacted to the U.S. claim that China has been supporting Russia's defense industrial base amid its invasion of Ukraine by sharing machine tools, semiconductors and other dual-use items, thereby undermining sanctions and export controls.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Tuesday that Washington "keeps making groundless accusations over the normal trade and economic exchanges" between China and Russia.
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