Blinken to fly to Beijing for high-stakes diplomacy after spy balloon saga

BEIJING — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is acceptable to question to Beijing this play successful his archetypal travel to China nether the Biden administration.

Delayed by much than 4 months, Blinken's travel marks a uncommon high-level gathering betwixt the U.S. and China successful a play of heightened tension.

Little is expected to look from the talks themselves. But Blinken's Beijing sojourn helps pave the mode for further meetings — including a imaginable one-to-one betwixt U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping aboriginal this year.

Blinken's Beijing travel is simply a "potential important turning constituent successful the relationship," Scott Kennedy, elder advisor and trustee seat successful Chinese concern and economics astatine the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told CNBC.

"Just simply strengthening connection is simply a tenable goal," helium said. "If [both sides] denote the talks went good capable they tin docket further cabinet-level meetings."

Communication and meetings betwixt the U.S. and China person dried up successful the past fewer years owed to the pandemic and governmental tensions.

The U.S. Department of State said Blinken is acceptable to conscionable with "senior [People's Republic of China] officials wherever helium volition sermon the value of maintaining unfastened lines of connection to responsibly negociate the U.S.-PRC relationship."

Blinken "will besides rise bilateral issues of concern, planetary and determination matters, and imaginable practice connected shared transnational challenges," section spokesperson Matthew Miller said successful a statement.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the sojourn but did not supply details connected circumstantial meetings.

Expectations for a important betterment successful the U.S.-China relationship, particularly arsenic a effect of Blinken's upcoming trip, stay low.

"The nonsubjective is inactive to forestall the narration from deteriorating further, alternatively than articulating and agreeing to a shared imaginativeness for a mode ahead," said Drew Thompson, a erstwhile U.S. Defense Department authoritative and existent visiting elder probe chap astatine the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy successful Singapore.

"The Biden administration's rhetoric is we'll compete, wherever we can; and cooperate, wherever we must," Thompson said. "But China doesn't spot it that way. China sees the governmental elements of some contention and cooperation, and they're not consenting to cooperate if there's inactive an constituent of contention oregon the U.S. is challenging it politically."

It's been an aggravated fewer months geopolitically portion the satellite waited for Blinken to reschedule his travel to China — and perchance assistance stabilize the narration betwixt the 2 economical powers.

The U.S. successful February changeable down an alleged Chinese spy balloon flying implicit U.S. airspace. Its quality had forced Blinken to indefinitely postpone his Beijing travel astatine the time. Beijing insisted the balloon was an unnamed upwind tracker that blew disconnected course.

Elsewhere, the CEO of TikTok, owned by Chinese tech elephantine ByteDance, got grilled successful U.S. Congress successful March implicit information concerns. China's Foreign Ministry said astatine the clip that it "has never" and "will never" inquire companies to spell against section laws and supply information located abroad.

"The US authorities has provided nary grounds oregon impervious that TikTok threatens U.S. nationalist security, yet it has repeatedly suppressed and attacked the institution based connected the presumption of guilt," the ministry said, according to a briefing transcript.

And successful May, China said U.S. chipmaker Micron had failed a information review and banned operators of captious infrastructure from buying from the company.

"The narration has not remained successful a dependable authorities since February," Kennedy said. But helium added that the temper successful Washington, D.C., wherever he's based, is "not arsenic acheronian arsenic it had been" successful February and March.

"The U.S. needs to grant its committedness to the 'One China' policy," Jia Qingguo, a prof astatine Peking University, said Tuesday connected the sidelines of the Caixin New Asia Vision league successful Singapore.

"China besides does not privation to spot immoderate accidents betwixt some militaries," Jia added.

"It recognizes that adjacent though determination is simply a request to found subject guardrails betwixt some countries, that is not enough. The 2 countries should besides found akin guardrails for diplomacy and economical relations to debar confrontation. This volition trim reactive actions and trim immoderate anticipation of accidents."

Among the galore different points wherever the U.S. and China disagree is the Russian warfare connected Ukraine, which Beijing has refused to statement an invasion, portion calling for bid talks.

Still, the 2 sides stay each other's largest trading partners successful presumption of goods.

China's Commerce Minister Wang Wentao met with his U.S. counterpart successful Washington successful May. And U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is expected to sojourn China astatine an unspecified date.

Looking ahead, Xi could perchance sojourn the U.S. during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders' Summit — acceptable to beryllium held successful San Francisco successful November.

Jia said expectations for immoderate outcomes of Blinken's upcoming meetings with the Chinese should not beryllium excessively high, but that it was important helium was going.

"It's not accustomed for 2 of the world's large powers to trust connected the highest levels of enactment to upkeep ties. It is really rather risky." Jia said. "Hence, it is important that some countries person much levels of exchange."

— CNBC's Clement Tan contributed to this report.