 "US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Wang Yi are meeting amid rising US-China tensions. (Photo: Reuters)")
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday in New York City, the U.S. State Department said.
Ties between the world’s two biggest economies have been tense as they clash over U.S. export controls on advanced chip technology to China, trade tariffs, Taiwan, human rights and the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
The meeting between the two top diplomats will take place at 1330 ET (1730 GMT) on Friday, according to the State Department. The Chinese foreign minister is in the US for the United Nations General Assembly session.
China this week urged the US to “promptly” remove all additional tariffs on Chinese goods.
The United States has expressed concern over Chinese ties with Russia since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine while Beijing has repeatedly expressed worries over US ties with Taiwan.
The US is Taiwan’s most important international backer and arms supplier even though Washington does not formally recognise its government, maintaining official relations only with Beijing.
The challenges to the US posed by China exceed those of the Cold War, US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said this month.
President Joe Biden’s administration has been explicit that it is not seeking a cold war with China, but increasingly analysts and members of the US Congress have said escalating global competition between the two superpowers resembled a new style of cold war.
The two sides have kept lines of communication open in recent months. The White House said last month a call was being planned between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Biden soon.