Secretary of State Antony Blinken obtained a frosty reception late Saturday as he arrived in Beijing, with nearly no fanfare and no crimson carpet ceremony as the highest U.S. diplomat kicked off a sequence of high-stakes conferences together with his Chinese counterparts.

Instead of the pomp and circumstance that has greeted different prime international officers throughout current journeys to Beijing, Mr. Blinken obtained a muted welcome that symbolized the more and more tense U.S.-China relationship.

Photos and video posted Sunday to social media appeared to point out the highest American diplomat being greeted by comparatively lower-ranking Chinese diplomats and by U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns.

That greeting paled compared to the lavish crimson carpet ceremony that French President Emmanuel Macron obtained when he visited China in April. That distinction is partially as a result of Mr. Macron’s standing as a head of state and Mr. Blinken’s place as a chief diplomat, nevertheless it additionally appeared clear Sunday that Beijing meant to ship a message to Washington by its minimalist welcome for the secretary of state.

Mr. Blinken is the primary prime American diplomat to go to China in 5 years. His go to was initially scheduled for February however was postponed amid outrage in America over a suspected Chinese spy balloon that flew over the U.S. and reportedly collected intelligence from delicate navy websites.

The U.S. shot down the balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4. Beijing maintains the balloon was on a civilian mission to gather climate knowledge, however the Biden administration has roundly rejected that clarification.

The incident added to U.S.-China tensions that have been already on the rise. Mr. Blinken’s go to is meant to attempt to calm these tensions and hold open direct strains of communication between the world’s prime two powers.

After his arrival in Beijing, Mr. Blinken met with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang for prolonged talks inside Beijing’s Diaoyutai State Guesthouse. The secretary of state additionally is predicted to talk with China’s prime diplomat, Wang Yi, and will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday.

Biden administration officers made no secret of the significance of Mr. Blinken’s go to to the People’s Republic of China.

“Our relationship with the PRC is one of our most complex and consequential. It is important that we maintain communication between our two countries,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller stated late Saturday.

Chinese officers stated they hope the go to may also help ease tensions between the 2 nations, a aim President Biden and Mr. Xi set out once they met in Bali in November.

“Hope this meeting can help steer China-U.S. relations back to what the two presidents agreed upon in Bali,” Hua Chunying, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, tweeted Sunday.

A day earlier, Mr. Biden stated he’s open to assembly with Mr. Xi once more within the close to future.

“I’m hoping that over the next several months, I’ll be meeting with Xi again and talking about legitimate differences we have but also how there’s areas we can get along,” the president instructed reporters Saturday.

U.S.-China friction is hottest over the Washington-backed island democracy of Taiwan, which Beijing views as a part of sovereign China and has vowed to carry below communist social gathering management utilizing navy pressure if needed.

Successive U.S. administrations have responded to China’s threats by growing American naval exercise across the Taiwan Strait and rallying different regional democracies towards Beijing’s aggression.

U.S. officers have additionally criticized China’s refusal to sentence Russia for invading Ukraine, and expressed concern over Beijing’s building of navy bases on disputed islands within the South China Sea — not to mention Beijing’s crackdown on democratic and financial freedoms in Hong Kong, and genocidal oppression of Uyghur Muslims inside China.

Amid that laundry record of points, U.S. officers have downplayed the prospects for any main breakthroughs throughout Mr. Blinken’s time in China.

“We’re not going to Beijing with the intent of having some sort of breakthrough or transformation in the way that we deal with one another,” Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel J. Kritenbrink instructed reporters final week.

“We’re coming to Beijing with a realistic, confident approach and a sincere desire to manage our competition in the most responsible way possible,” Mr. Kritenbrink stated.

• Guy Taylor contributed to this report.

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