China yet to respond to Washington’s invitation: Blinken

UNITED NATIONS

Washington has not received a response to an invitation extended to China's newly-appointed Foreign Minister Wang Yi to visit the US, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday.

“We don't have a response yet, but we just extended that invitation,” Blinken told reporters at UN headquarters in New York after he chaired a meeting on global food security.

“I would expect we will have an opportunity to see each other and to continue the important conversations that I had in Beijing that a number of my colleagues in the Cabinet had,'' he said.

High-level exchanges between Washington and Beijing have picked up in recent weeks as the two countries make an apparent move to stabilize relations.

Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and climate envoy John Kerry were three US officials who visited Beijing in the past two months.

“We fully expect Chinese counterparts to come to the United States,” said Blinken.

“I think there's an obligation that both the United States and China to responsibly manage this relationship that starts with talking, including dealing directly with our very serious differences, as well as seeing if we can find areas for cooperation that would benefit our own people and benefit many people around the world,'' he added.