Senior U.S., Chinese diplomats maintain ‘candid’ talks to keep away from escalation of tensions

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Senior diplomats from China and the United States held “candid and productive” talks in Beijing and agreed to maintain open traces of communication to keep away from tensions from spiraling into battle, officers mentioned Tuesday.

On Monday, Daniel Kritenbrink, assistant U.S. secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, was essentially the most senior U.S. official confirmed to have visited China since tensions between Washington and Beijing soared with the taking pictures down of a Chinese spy balloon over the U.S. in early February.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the time postponed a deliberate journey to China, and Beijing has since largely rebuffed makes an attempt at official exchanges, although two high U.S. and Chinese protection officers briefly interacted at a discussion board in Singapore over the weekend.

China’s Foreign Ministry mentioned Kritenbrink and Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu “had candid, constructive and fruitful communication on promoting the improvement of China-U.S. relations and properly managing differences.”

Beijing mentioned it said its “solemn position on Taiwan” – a self-ruled island China claims as its territory to be annexed by drive if obligatory – and different points, and that the 2 sides had agreed to take care of communication.

The U.S. State Department additionally mentioned the 2 officers held “candid and productive discussions as part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication and build on recent high-level diplomacy between the two countries.”

The U.S. Navy complained Sunday about an “unsafe interaction” within the Taiwan Strait, after a Chinese warship got here inside 150 yards (137 meters) of a U.S. destroyer. In May, a Chinese fighter jet flew dangerously near a U.S. reconnaissance plane over the South China Sea, the place Beijing shares overlapping territorial claims with different nations.

CIA Director William Burns reportedly took a secret journey final month to Beijing in one other signal the 2 sides are taken with restoring communication by way of varied channels.