The U.S. State Department issued a statement on its website on October 10 that Secretary of State Blinken would hold a 2+2 summit meeting with Yang Jiechi, Director of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Office. However, the official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, the Global Times, reported today with the headline “U.S. State Department Unilaterally Announces”, highlighting that there are still many variables in this first high-level meeting between the U.S. and China since President Biden took office.
The State Department announced that Secretary of State Blinken and National Security Advisor Sullivan will meet with Yang Jiechi, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, and State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on March 18 in Anchorage, Alaska, and will engage in dialogue with the Chinese side on a range of issues.
Earlier, Reuters and other media sources also cited sources as saying that the U.S. is discussing with China to invite Director Yang Jiechi, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Secretary Blinken and Assistant to President Sullivan for National Security Affairs to hold a high-level “2+2” meeting in Alaska in the near future.
In response to a press inquiry, White House spokesman Shaq said that President Biden and President Xi Jinping have already spoken on the phone and we look forward to the opportunity to engage with each other, but there is no definitive news to release at this Time. The official website of the U.S. State Department, however, confirmed the meeting.
In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular press conference yesterday (10) that President Xi Jinping and President Biden spoke successfully on New Year’s Eve, and both sides agreed to keep the lines of communication open between the U.S. and China. However, there is no information available on the specific issue of the “2+2” high-level meeting between the U.S. and China.
Since the headline “U.S. State Department unilaterally announces” used in today’s Global Times is quite unusual, political observers believe that there are still many issues between China and the U.S. that have not yet been agreed upon, and that the Chinese Communist Party hopes that the U.S. will make greater concessions on some issues, especially Taiwan and Hong Kong. ＋Therefore, there are still many variables in this “2+2” high-level meeting.
The headline “U.S. State Department unilaterally announces” used by the Global Times is quite unusual. Photo: Reprinted from the Global Times
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