In light of the worsening ties between China and the United States, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will be meeting with counterparts Wang Yi and Yang Jiechi in Alaska Anchorage, Alaska next week.
"Secretary of State Antony J Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will meet on March 18 in Anchorage, Alaska with People's Republic of China (PRC) Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi and State Councilor Wang Yi," State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement on Wednesday (local time).
"The meeting will take place following Secretary Blinken's meetings with two of our closest regional allies in Tokyo and Seoul. Secretary Blinken and NSA Sullivan will discuss a range of issues with the PRC," he added.
The meeting comes amid a deep strain in relations between the world's two largest economies.
CNN reported that Biden has prioritized economic and military issues, and mentioned potential areas of cooperation, including climate change and nuclear proliferation while calling China out on a range of issues related to its nefarious use of technology, trade practices and human rights abuses.
On Tuesday, The White House confirmed that Chinese and US diplomats are "directly engaged" in talks, in response to questions over an exclusive report in the South China Morning Post that plans are afoot for a senior-level meeting in Alaska.
"Of course there'll be a range of engagements that the president and his national security team will have with China and other countries in the region in the months and years ahead," press secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday when asked to confirm the meeting would take place.
"We are directly engaged. There are a range of issues we of course have talked with the Chinese about through those engagements. We don't hold back about our concerns, but we also look for opportunities to work together," she said.
Under the Trump administration, ties between the two countries had deteriorated over issues such as human rights violations in Xinjiang, encroachment on the special status of Hong Kong, accusations of unfair trade practices by Beijing, lack of transparency concerning the pandemic and China's military aggression in various parts of the world.
( With inputs from ANI )
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