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China Foreign Ministry Welcomes Blinken's Visit to China as Tensions Simmer

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (R) and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Tamim (L) arrive for remarks at the State Department April 15, 2024 in Washington, DC. Win McNamee/Getty Images/AFP
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (R) and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Tamim (L) arrive for remarks at the State Department April 15, 2024 in Washington, DC. Win McNamee/Getty Images/AFP
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China Foreign Ministry Welcomes Blinken's Visit to China as Tensions Simmer

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (R) and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Tamim (L) arrive for remarks at the State Department April 15, 2024 in Washington, DC. Win McNamee/Getty Images/AFP
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (R) and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Tamim (L) arrive for remarks at the State Department April 15, 2024 in Washington, DC. Win McNamee/Getty Images/AFP

China's foreign ministry on Thursday welcomed the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to China as tensions rise between the two countries over global trade, regional conflicts and the Russia-Ukraine war.
Blinken will depart on April 23 for a four-day trip to China, where he will meet with senior Chinese officials amid heightened tensions, including over China's alignment with Russia and aggressive moves against the Philippines in the South China Sea, Politico reported.
Blinken is also expected to raise US concerns that Beijing is helping Russia build up its defense industry to fight the war in Ukraine, Reuters said.
"China welcomes Secretary of State Blinken to visit China in the next few days," said Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian, at a regular press briefing.
Blinken is visiting the world's second-largest economy to help smooth over recent strains, most notably after US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for sharply higher tariffs on Chinese metal products.
"As a matter of principle, we have consistently demanded the United States earnestly respect the principles of fair competition, respect WTO rules, and immediately stop the trade protectionist measures aimed at China," Lin said.
Biden aides said the US president was proposing raising to 25% tariffs imposed by his predecessor Donald Trump on certain Chinese steel and aluminum products. The proposed higher tariff rate would apply to more than $1 billion worth of steel and aluminum products, a US official said. "China will take all necessary measures to protect its own legitimate rights and interests," Lin said.

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Typhoon Gaemi Weakens to Tropical Storm as It Moves Inland Carrying Rain toward Central China

In this photo released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, Taiwanese soldiers clear debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung county in southwestern Taiwan, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP)
In this photo released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, Taiwanese soldiers clear debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung county in southwestern Taiwan, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP)
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Typhoon Gaemi Weakens to Tropical Storm as It Moves Inland Carrying Rain toward Central China

In this photo released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, Taiwanese soldiers clear debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung county in southwestern Taiwan, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP)
In this photo released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, Taiwanese soldiers clear debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung county in southwestern Taiwan, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP)

Tropical storm Gaemi brought rain to central China on Saturday as it moved inland after making landfall at typhoon strength on the country's east coast Thursday night.

The storm felled trees, flooded streets and damaged crops in China but there were no reports of casualties or major damage. Eight people died in Taiwan, which Gaemi crossed at typhoon strength before heading over open waters to China.

The worst loss of life, however, was in a country that Gaemi earlier passed by but didn't strike directly: the Philippines. A steadily climbing death toll has reached 34, authorities there said Friday. The typhoon exacerbated seasonal monsoon rains in the Southeast Asian country, causing landslides and severe flooding that stranded people on rooftops as waters rose around them.

China Gaemi weakened to a tropical storm since coming ashore Thursday evening in coastal Fujian province, but it is still expected to bring heavy rains in the coming days as it moves northwest to Jiangxi, Hubei and Henan provinces.

About 85 hectares (210 acres) of crops were damaged in Fujian province and economic losses were estimated at 11.5 million yuan ($1.6 million), according to Chinese media reports. More than 290,000 people were relocated because of the storm.

Elsewhere in China, several days of heavy rains this week in Gansu province left one dead and three missing in the country's northwest, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Taiwan Residents and business owners swept out mud and mopped up water Friday after serious flooding that sent cars and scooters floating down streets in parts of southern and central Taiwan. Some towns remained inundated with waist-deep water.

Eight people died, several of them struck by falling trees and one by a landslide hitting their house. More than 850 people were injured and one person was missing, the emergency operations center said.

Visiting hard-hit Kaohsiung in the south Friday, President Lai Ching-te commended the city's efforts to improve flood control since a 2009 typhoon that brought a similar amount of rain and killed 681 people, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported.

Lai announced that cash payments of $20,000 New Taiwan Dollars ($610) would be given to households in severely flooded areas.

A cargo ship sank off the coast near Kaohsiung Harbor during the typhoon, and the captain's body was later pulled from the water, the Central News Agency said. A handful of other ships were beached by the storm.

Philippines At least 34 people died in the Philippines, mostly because of flooding and landslides triggered by days of monsoon rains that intensified when the typhoon — called Carina in the Philippines — passed by the archipelago’s east coast.

The victims included 11 people in the Manila metro area, where widespread flooding trapped people on the roofs and upper floors of their houses, police said. Some drowned or were electrocuted in their flooded communities.

Earlier in the week, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered authorities to speed up efforts in delivering food and other aid to isolated rural villages, saying people may not have eaten for days.

The bodies of a pregnant woman and three children were dug out Wednesday after a landslide buried a shanty in the rural mountainside town of Agoncillo in Batangas province.