Senior US, Chinese Diplomats Hold ‘Candid’ Talks To Avoid Escalation of Tensions 

US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink leaves a hotel during his visit to Beijing, China June 6, 2023. (Reuters)
US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink leaves a hotel during his visit to Beijing, China June 6, 2023. (Reuters)
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Senior US, Chinese Diplomats Hold ‘Candid’ Talks To Avoid Escalation of Tensions 

US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink leaves a hotel during his visit to Beijing, China June 6, 2023. (Reuters)
US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink leaves a hotel during his visit to Beijing, China June 6, 2023. (Reuters)

Senior US and Chinese diplomats held “candid and productive” talks in Beijing and agreed to keep open lines of communication to avoid tensions from spiraling into conflict, officials said Tuesday.

Daniel Kritenbrink, assistant US secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, was the most senior US official confirmed to have visited China on Monday since tensions between Washington and Beijing soared over the shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon over the US in early February.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the time postponed a planned trip to China, and Beijing has since largely rebuffed attempts at official exchanges, though two top US and Chinese defense officials briefly interacted at a forum in Singapore over the weekend.

China’s Foreign Ministry said Kritenbrink and Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu “had candid, constructive and fruitful communication on promoting the improvement of China-US relations and properly managing differences.”

Beijing said it had stated its “solemn position on Taiwan” — a self-ruled island China claims as its territory to be annexed by force if necessary — and other issues and that the two sides had agreed to maintain communication.

The US State Department also said the two officials held “candid and productive discussions as part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication and build on recent high-level diplomacy between the two countries.”

The US Navy on Sunday complained about an “unsafe interaction” in the Taiwan Strait, after a Chinese warship came within 150 yards (137 meters) of a US destroyer. And last month, a Chinese fighter jet flew dangerously close to a US reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea, where Beijing shares overlapping territorial claims with other nations.

CIA Director William Burns last month reportedly took a secret trip to Beijing in another sign the two sides are interested in restoring communication through various channels.



Russia Warns US, South Korea and Japan against Forming Security Alliance Targeting North Korea

Russia's Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov attends the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Post-Ministerial Conference during the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting and related meetings at the Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (Mohd Rasfan/Pool Photo via AP)
Russia's Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov attends the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Post-Ministerial Conference during the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting and related meetings at the Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (Mohd Rasfan/Pool Photo via AP)
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Russia Warns US, South Korea and Japan against Forming Security Alliance Targeting North Korea

Russia's Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov attends the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Post-Ministerial Conference during the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting and related meetings at the Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (Mohd Rasfan/Pool Photo via AP)
Russia's Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov attends the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Post-Ministerial Conference during the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting and related meetings at the Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (Mohd Rasfan/Pool Photo via AP)

Russia’s foreign minister on Saturday warned the US, South Korea and Japan against forming a security partnership targeting North Korea as he visited his country's ally for talks on further solidifying their booming military and other cooperation.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov flew to North Korea’s eastern Wonsan city on Friday for a meeting with his North Korean counterpart Choe Son Hui, The Associated Press.

Relations between Russia and North Korea have been flourishing in recent years, with North Korea supplying troops and ammunitions to support Russia’s war against Ukraine in return for military and economic assistance. That has raised concerns among South Korea, the US and others that Russia might also transfer to North Korea sensitive technologies that can increase the danger of its nuclear and missile programs.

After a meeting with Choe on Saturday, Lavrov accused the US, South Korea and Japan of what he called their military buildups around North Korea.

“We warn against exploiting these ties to build alliances directed against anyone, including North Korea and, of course, Russia,” he told reporters, according to Russia’s state Tass news agency.

The US, South Korea and Japan have been expanding or restoring their trilateral military exercises in response to North Korea’s advancing nuclear program. On Friday, the three countries held a joint air drill involving US nuclear-capable bombers near the Korean Peninsula, as their top military officers met in Seoul and urged North Korea to cease all unlawful activities that threaten regional security.

North Korea views major US-led military drills as invasion rehearsals. It has long argued that it’s forced to develop nuclear weapons to defend itself from US military threats.

Lavrov said Russia understands North Korea’s decision to seek nuclear weapons.

“The technologies used by North Korea are the result of the work of its own scientists. We respect North Korea’s aspirations and understand the reasons why it is pursuing a nuclear development,” Lavrov said.

During their meeting, Choe reiterated that North Korea “unconditionally” supports Russia’s fight against Ukraine. She described ties between North Korea and Russia as “the invincible alliance.”

Lavrov said he repeated Russia’s gratitude for the contribution that North Korean troops made in efforts to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region.

Wonsan city, the meeting venue, is where North Korea recently opened a mammoth beach resort that it says can accommodate nearly 20,000 people.

In his comments at the start of his meeting with Choe, Lavrov said that “I am sure that Russian tourists will be increasingly eager to come here. We will do everything we can to facilitate this, creating conditions for this, including air travel,” according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The Wonsan-Kalma tourist zone is at the center of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s push to boost tourism as a way to improve his country’s troubled economy. But prospects for the biggest tourist complex in North Korea aren’t clear, as the country appears unlikely to fully reopen its borders and embrace Western tourists anytime soon.