China's top diplomat said Thursday that dialogue between Beijing and Washington should not only be resumed but deepened.
Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister, spoke at the beginning of a three-day visit to Washington, during which he is meeting with high-level US officials, including possibly President Joe Biden, at a time both countries are eager to stem any further decline in their ties.
“The China and US sides need dialogue. We should resume dialogue, and what we need more is to deepen our dialogue, and have all-around dialogue,” Wang said before going into a closed-door meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “Through dialogue, we will increase understanding and reduce misunderstanding and misjudgment.”
With Blinken looking on, Wang said China will seek consensus and cooperation to "push the relationship as soon as possible back to the track of healthy, stable and sustainable development.”
During Wang's visit to Washington, he will “have in-depth exchanges of views” with US officials on a range of issues and “state China’s principled position and legitimate concerns” on relations between the two countries, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said, The Associated Press reported.
The Chinese president last came to the US in 2017, when former President Donald Trump hosted him at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Biden, who took office in 2021, has yet to host Xi on US soil.
