Blinken is expected to visit Beijing on June 18
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to China next week, rescheduling a visit that was cancelled in February, US officials said on Friday. Blinken is expected to arrive in Beijing on June 18, the first trip by a top US diplomat to China since his predecessor Mike Pompeo in October 2018, US officials said on condition of anonymity. The State Department has not officially announced his travel. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby recently said the United States would announce travel by senior officials "in the near future" without giving details. Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met in Bali in November and agreed to try to stop tensions from soaring. Biden's national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, and top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi held an extensive, closed-door meeting in Vienna last month. Biden has looked to limited cooperation with China in areas such as climate change, in contrast with the more adversarial stance adopted by his predecessor, Donald Trump. (AFP)