Blinken Meets Chinese VP as US-China Contacts Increase Ahead of Possible Summit 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Vice President Han Zheng shake hands while posing for photos, Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, in New York. (AP)
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Vice President Han Zheng shake hands while posing for photos, Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, in New York. (AP)
TT

Blinken Meets Chinese VP as US-China Contacts Increase Ahead of Possible Summit 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Vice President Han Zheng shake hands while posing for photos, Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, in New York. (AP)
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Vice President Han Zheng shake hands while posing for photos, Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, in New York. (AP)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Monday with China’s vice president on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly as the Biden administration and Beijing step up high-level contacts ahead of what could be a leader-level summit this fall.

Blinken and Vice President Han Zheng held talks Monday at the Chinese mission to the United Nations. Their discussion came as China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi was in Moscow meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after wrapping up two days of talks with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan in Malta.

The quick succession of US-China contacts is fueling speculation that President Joe Biden may meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in November at an Asia-Pacific Economic conference in San Francisco.

“I think it’s a good thing that we have this opportunity to build on the recent high-level engagements that our countries have had to make sure that we’re maintaining open communications and demonstrate that we are responsibly managing the relationship between our two countries,” Blinken said in brief remarks at the top of the meeting.

Han told Blinken that US-China relations face “difficulties and challenges” that require both countries to show “more sincerity” and make additional efforts to “meet each other halfway.”

Blinken visited Beijing over the summer after canceling a planned trip there in February following the shootdown of a Chinese surveillance balloon over US territory. Blinken was followed to Beijing by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, climate envoy John Kerry and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

“From the perspective of the United States, face-to-face diplomacy is the best way to deal with areas where we disagree and also the best way to explore areas of cooperation between us,” Blinken said. “The world expects us to responsibly manage our relationship. The United States is committed to doing just that.”

The White House said Sunday that Sullivan’s meeting with Wang in Malta was intended to “responsibly maintain the relationship” at a time of strained ties and mutual suspicion between the rival powers. It said the pair had “candid, substantive and constructive discussions.”

The White House said Sullivan and Wang discussed the relationship between the two countries, global and regional security issues, Russia’s war in Ukraine and the Taiwan Strait. They also discussed artificial intelligence, counternarcotic efforts and the status of detained US citizens in China.

However, after those talks, Wang traveled immediately to Russia for several days of security consultations with senior Russian officials.

China and Russia have grown closer as relations with the West have deteriorated for both. China is looking for support as it seeks to reshape the US-led international order into one that is more accommodating to its approach. Last month, it helped engineer an expansion of the BRICS partnership, which invited six more countries to join what has been a five-nation bloc that includes China and Russia.

The US and China are at odds over Russia’s military action in Ukraine. China has refrained from taking sides in the conflict, saying that while a country’s territory must be respected, the West needs to consider Russia’s security concerns about NATO expansion. It has accused the US of prolonging the fighting by providing arms to Ukraine, weaponry that the US says Kyiv needs to fight back against Russia.

Wang’s trip to Moscow also came a day after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un left Russia following a six-day visit that included talks with President Vladimir Putin at a far eastern spaceport, visits to aircraft plants and inspections of nuclear-capable strategic bombers and an advanced warship. Kim’s trip fueled Western concerns about an arms alliance that could boost Russian arsenals for fighting in Ukraine.



Russia Has Decided 'at Highest Level' to Remove Taliban from Terrorist List

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov shakes hands with Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan's Taliban movement Amir Khan Muttaqi during a meeting in Moscow, Russia, October 4, 2024. Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov shakes hands with Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan's Taliban movement Amir Khan Muttaqi during a meeting in Moscow, Russia, October 4, 2024. Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
TT

Russia Has Decided 'at Highest Level' to Remove Taliban from Terrorist List

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov shakes hands with Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan's Taliban movement Amir Khan Muttaqi during a meeting in Moscow, Russia, October 4, 2024. Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov shakes hands with Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan's Taliban movement Amir Khan Muttaqi during a meeting in Moscow, Russia, October 4, 2024. Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout via REUTERS

Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Friday that a decision to remove the Taliban from a list of terrorist organizations had been "taken at the highest level", the state TASS news agency reported.
The decision needs to be followed up with various legal procedures in order to make it a reality, President Vladimir Putin's special representative on Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, was quoted as saying.
Putin said in July that Russia considered Afghanistan's Taliban movement an ally in the fight against terrorism.
Russia has been slowly building ties with the Taliban since it seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as US-led forces withdrew after 20 years of war but the movement is still officially outlawed in Russia.
No country has formally recognized the Taliban as the country's legitimate leadership.
Russia added the Taliban to its list of terrorist organizations in 2003. Removing it would be an important step by Moscow towards normalizing relations with Afghanistan.
The Taliban's acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said in a speech in Moscow that recent decisions by Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to remove the former insurgents from a list of banned groups was a welcome step.
"We also appreciate the positive remarks by the high-ranking officials of the Russian Federation in this regard and hope to see more effective steps soon," he said.
In separate comments on Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow was convinced of the need to maintain "pragmatic dialogue" with the current Afghan government.
"It is obvious that it is impossible to solve problems or even discuss an Afghan settlement without Kabul," Lavrov said.
"Moscow will continue its course on developing political, trade and economic ties with Kabul," he added, speaking at a meeting in Moscow with Muttaqi and representatives of neighboring countries.
While he did not mention the Taliban by name, he praised the current Afghan leadership for its efforts to curb drug production and fight ISIS, which is outlawed in Russia.
Muttaqi said that countries in the region should cooperate against the ISIS group, which he said had established training centers outside Afghanistan.
Lavrov said the United States should return confiscated assets to Afghanistan and the West should acknowledge responsibility for the post-conflict reconstruction of the country.
Lavrov also called for an increase in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, and said Russia would keep sending it food and essential goods.
Russia has a troubled history in Afghanistan, where the Soviet army invaded in 1979 to support a pro-Moscow government but withdrew 10 years later after sustaining heavy casualties at the hands of fighters.
Russia and its post-Soviet neighbors have suffered recurrent attacks from militant groups linked to Afghanistan - most recently in March, when 145 people were killed in an attack claimed by ISIS at a concert hall near Moscow.