Ties between the superpowers have frayed over the past few years and sank to their worst in decades last August, when then U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, prompting unprecedented Chinese military drills near the self-ruled island.
Since then, President Joe Biden’s administration has said it hopes to build a “floor for the relationship” and ensure that rivalry does not spiral into conflict. Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in November with that goal in mind and both leaders pledged more frequent communications.
Complicating matters, the Pentagon said on Thursday that a suspected Chinese spy balloon has been flying over the United States for a few days, adding that Washington has been tracking it since it entered the U.S. airspace.
It was not immediately clear how the incident would impact Blinken’s trip, during which he has been expected to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and possibly Xi.
Another…
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