US-China Hold Backchannel Talks for High-Level Meeting...Likely to Meet in Alaska

"Blinken in the US, Yang Jiechi and Wang Yi likely to appear in China"
"China places great importance on restoring relations... cooperation measures expected to be discussed"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The South China Morning Post (SCMP) in Hong Kong reported, citing sources, that the United States and China are in discussions to hold a high-level meeting and are continuing behind-the-scenes contacts at the working level. The expected venue for the talks between the two countries is Alaska, and SCMP stated that they could discuss confirming common agendas and cooperation to restore relations that have been severed since the Donald Trump administration.

On the 10th, SCMP exclusively reported, citing diplomatic sources, that the U.S. and China are discussing holding a high-level meeting, which, if realized, would be the first high-level meeting between the two countries since the inauguration of the Joe Biden administration. SCMP said that U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken and China's Communist Party Politburo member in charge of foreign affairs Yang Jiechi, along with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, could hold ministerial-level talks.

According to SCMP, the expected location for the talks between the two countries is Anchorage, Alaska, USA. Anchorage is geographically located at a midpoint between the two countries, and from China's perspective, holding talks in a neutral location rather than on the U.S. mainland could convey the effect that it is not a submissive diplomacy excessively conceding to the U.S., SCMP reported.

SCMP conveyed that the Chinese government hopes that through the realization of this meeting, China and the U.S., whose relations were strained during the Donald Trump administration, will find an opportunity to confirm common agendas and interests and seek cooperation. It further explained that the attendance of Yang Jiechi and Wang Yi, two diplomats most trusted by Chinese President Xi Jinping, shows how important China considers the restoration of China-U.S. relations.

SCMP reported that since the inauguration of the Biden administration, on the 11th of last month, President Xi and President Biden had a phone call lasting about two hours ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year, and that close contacts between the two countries have been ongoing behind the scenes since the beginning of the Biden administration. Chen Qi, director of the International Security Research Institute at Tsinghua University, told SCMP, "Although the two countries have not announced it, China and the U.S. have been in close contact at the working level since President Biden took office," and predicted, "It is certain that the Biden administration will resume dialogue with China. If Yang Jiechi and Blinken meet, they will discuss how to reset China-U.S. relations and how to resume dialogue between the two countries in various fields."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.