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Blinken Discusses US-China Ties in Call with New Foreign Minister Qin 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference at the State Department on December 22, 2022 in Washington, DC. (AFP/Getty Images)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference at the State Department on December 22, 2022 in Washington, DC. (AFP/Getty Images)
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Blinken Discusses US-China Ties in Call with New Foreign Minister Qin 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference at the State Department on December 22, 2022 in Washington, DC. (AFP/Getty Images)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference at the State Department on December 22, 2022 in Washington, DC. (AFP/Getty Images)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he spoke on Sunday with incoming Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, appointed last week to the post following his role as ambassador to the United States. 

On Twitter, Blinken said he discussed the US-China relationship and efforts to maintain open lines of communication in a telephone call with Qin. 

On Friday China appointed Qin, its ambassador to the United States and a trusted aide of President Xi Jinping, to be its new foreign minister, as Beijing and Washington seek to stabilize rocky relations. 

China's foreign ministry acknowledged that the two spoke by phone. 

In a statement on its official website on Monday, the ministry said Qin bid farewell to Blinken during the call, while added that he looked forward to maintaining close working ties with Blinken and promoting Sino-US relations. 

Qin, 56, replaces Wang Yi, who had been foreign minister for the past decade. Wang, 69, was promoted to the politburo of the Chinese Communist Party in October and is expected to play a bigger role in foreign policy. 

Though Qin sounded optimistic about US-China relations during his brief 17-month stint as ambassador, a post his predecessor occupied for eight years, his tenure nonetheless coincided with deteriorating ties between the two. 

Wang's stint as foreign minister saw a sharp rise in tensions between Beijing and Washington on a range of issues from trade to Taiwan. 

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Strong Earthquake Kills at Least 126 People in Tibet

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescue workers search for survivors in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo Township of Dingri in Xigaze, southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Xinhua via AP)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescue workers search for survivors in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo Township of Dingri in Xigaze, southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Xinhua via AP)
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Strong Earthquake Kills at Least 126 People in Tibet

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescue workers search for survivors in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo Township of Dingri in Xigaze, southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Xinhua via AP)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescue workers search for survivors in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo Township of Dingri in Xigaze, southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Xinhua via AP)

 A strong earthquake shook a high-altitude region of western China and areas of Nepal on Tuesday, damaging hundreds of houses, littering streets with rubble and killing at least 126 people in Tibet. Many others were trapped as dozens of aftershocks shook the remote region.
Rescue workers climbed mounds of broken bricks, some using ladders in heavily damaged villages, as they searched for survivors. Videos posted by China's Ministry of Emergency Management showed two people being carried on stretchers by workers treading over the debris from collapsed homes.
At least 188 people were injured in Tibet on the Chinese side of the border, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
More than 1,000 homes were damaged in the barren and sparsely populated region, state broadcaster CCTV reported. In video posted by the broadcaster, building debris littered streets and crushed cars.
According to The AP, people in northeastern Nepal strongly felt the earthquake, but there were no initial reports of injuries or damage, according to the country's National Emergency Operation Center. The area around Mount Everest, about 75 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of the epicenter, was empty in the depth of winter when even some residents move away to escape the cold.
The quake woke up residents in Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu — about 230 kilometers (140 miles) from the epicenter — and sent them running into the streets.
The US Geological Survey said the earthquake measured magnitude 7.1 and was relatively shallow at a depth of about 10 kilometers (6 miles). China's Earthquake Networks Center recorded the magnitude as 6.8. Shallow earthquakes often cause more damage.
The epicenter was in Tibet's Tingri county, where the India and Eurasia plates grind against each other and can cause earthquakes strong enough to change the heights of some of the world’s tallest peaks in the Himalayan mountains.
There have been 10 earthquakes of at least magnitude 6 in the area where Tuesday’s quake hit over the past century, the USGS said.
About 150 aftershocks were recorded in the nine hours after the earthquake, and the Mount Everest scenic area on the Chinese side was closed.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for all-out efforts to rescue people, minimize casualties and resettle those whose homes were damaged. More than 3,000 rescuers were deployed, CCTV said.
Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing was dispatched to the area to guide the work, and the government announced the allocation of 100 million yuan ($13.6 million) for disaster relief.
About 6,900 people live in three townships and 27 villages within 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) of the epicenter on the Chinese side, state media said. The average altitude in the area is about 4,200 meters (13,800 feet), the Chinese earthquake center said in a social media post.
On the southwest edge of Kathmandu, a video showed water spilling out into the street from a pond in a courtyard with a small temple.
“It is a big earthquake," a woman can be heard saying. "People are all shaking.”