Amid strained relations, the US Secretary of State meets with a Chinese counterpart at the UN

By Humera Pamuk and Michael Martina

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng before the United Nations General Assembly as the world’s two biggest economies held a series of meetings to stabilize their troubled relationship. .

White House National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Malta for 12 hours last weekend. Both sides described the talks as “genuine, substantive and constructive”.

The meeting between Blinken and Hahn is the latest in a series of talks between officials from both sides that will pave the way for a meeting between US Presidents Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping.

“The world expects us to manage our relationships responsibly,” Blinken said before meeting Han. “America is committed to this.”

Blinken added: “From an American perspective, face-to-face diplomacy is the best way to deal with areas where we disagree, and the best way to explore areas of cooperation between us.”

Blinken and other U.S. officials visited China this year to improve ties and strengthen ties between the powers after the Americans shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon flying over the United States.

Biden expressed disappointment that Xi Jinping did not attend the G20 summit in India this month. Their next chance to see each other is at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco in November.

“Currently, Sino-US relations are facing many difficulties and challenges,” Han told Blinken, adding that the Chinese expected efforts from the Americans to implement the consensus of the leaders of the two countries and promote the stable development of the relationship.

“The world needs a healthy relationship between China and the United States,” Han said.

(Reporting by Humera Pamuk and Michael Martina)