Chinese Foreign Minister visits the United States to ease tensions between Washington and Beijing

  Following visits by American ministers to China recently, the US State Department announced on Tuesday that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Washington between next Thursday and Saturday. This visit comes amid speculation that Chinese President Xi Jinping may visit the United States before the end of the year. Relations between Washington and Beijing have deteriorated to their worst levels in decades, with trade restrictions imposed by Washington at the forefront of the disputes.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is visiting the United States from October 26th to 28th to ease tensions between Washington and Beijing. The Chinese minister will be the highest-ranking official from his country to visit the United States in almost five years. The countries are trying to manage their disputes despite the looming tensions, which have escalated in recent years.

The US State Department stated in a statement that Secretary of State Antony Blinken will host his Chinese counterpart in Washington, where they will discuss "a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues as part of ongoing efforts to manage the relationship between the United States and China in a responsible manner and maintain open lines of communication."

The department added that the United States "will continue to use diplomacy to promote American interests and values, address areas of disagreement, and make progress on common cross-border challenges."

American officials announced on Monday that the Chinese minister will hold talks on "managing" tensions between the two countries, likely paving the way for a possible visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to the United States before the end of the year.

The relationship between the two countries is tense due to several issues, notably trade, Ukraine, the Middle East, Taiwan, and what the United States views as expansionist moves by China in the waters adjacent to the Philippines.

A senior US official stated that the visit of the Chinese diplomatic chief is part of efforts between the world's two largest economies "to manage our competition in a responsible way."

He added, on the condition of anonymity, "We still believe that direct diplomacy is the best way to deal with difficult issues, address misunderstandings, and explore ways to work with the Chinese where our interests intersect."

The visit of the Chinese minister is a response to the visit by Blinken to Beijing last June when he was the highest-ranking American official to travel to China since 2018.

Blinken met with the senior Chinese leadership in Beijing for 11 hours, including President Xi.

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo also visited China at the end of August and announced a Washington agreement with Beijing to establish a new working group to discuss aspects of tension in trade issues.

Diplomats say the Chinese minister expects a similar meeting with President Biden, who will be in Washington this week.

Biden's last meeting with his Chinese counterpart was in November last year on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia.

On that occasion, Biden invited his Chinese counterpart to visit San Francisco in November to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

In response to a question about whether Wang's visit would confirm Xi's visit to the United States, a second US official, who also requested anonymity, stated that Biden "has stated several times that he hopes to see President Xi in the near future," without providing further details.