Washington/Beijing, (EFE).- The Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, held a telephone conversation this Wednesday morning with his Chinese counterpart, Qin Gang, in which he asked him to “keep the lines of communication open.” to avoid a conflict, his office said in a statement.
In addition, the American assured that his country will continue to use diplomatic channels to deal with issues that concern him, as well as to delve into possible areas of cooperation with the Asian giant.
For his part, Qin asked Blinken that Washington stop interfering in China’s internal affairs, Chinese state media reported today.
The Chinese foreign minister demanded that the US cease its efforts to harm China’s sovereign security and development interests “in the name of rivalry,” according to the official Global Times newspaper.
In the conversation, Qin “clarified China’s firm position on key issues,” according to the newspaper, which details that the conversation took place at the request of the head of US diplomacy.
Relations between the two powers have been at a tense moment since Washington ordered the downing of an alleged Chinese spy balloon over US soil last February.
The event led Blinken to cancel a long-awaited trip to Beijing. Since then, officials from President Joe Biden’s Administration have indicated that they would like an expansion of communication channels between the two countries.
At a press conference in late April, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Biden hopes to hold a call with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jingping, “soon.”
The leaders have not held a bilateral talk since their meeting at the G20 summit in Indonesia in November last year.