US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to visit Beijing for a two-day visit next week.
The State Department is evasive about Blinken’s possible meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but says the trip aims to keep bilateral tensions from escalating.
No US Secretary of State has met with Xi since 2017.
Blinken’s visit builds on talks between Xi and US President Joe Biden during the G20 summit in Indonesia last November.
The US seeks to ensure the competition between the US and China “isn’t in a position to spiral into conflict.”
Relations between the US and China have soured over issues such as human rights, security, technology, trade, the coronavirus pandemic, Indo-Pacific dominance, and Taiwan.
It is not expected that any significant “breakthroughs or really large deliverables” will emerge from Blinken’s visit.
The US is “trying to showcase to the international community” that it can maintain high-level communication with China.
Efforts to stabilize Sino-US relations coincide with a push in Washington to isolate China in advanced technologies and deepen defence ties with countries that share territorial disputes with China.
The US and India have launched joint technology, space, and defence initiatives to counter China in the Indo-Pacific.
The Biden administration has halted approval of new permits for American companies exporting technology to Huawei.
The US has reached agreements with the European Union and Japan to impose export restrictions on cutting-edge semiconductors to China.
US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has voiced an intention to visit Taiwan, which could undermine Blinken’s visit to China.
