US says no response yet from China on foreign minister invite to Washington

UNITED NATIONS/WASHINGTON - The United States is yet to receive a response from China

for the invitation it has extended

to newly reappointed Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Washington, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday.

Earlier this week, Washington formally extended the invite to veteran diplomat Mr Wang, after

his predecessor Qin Gang was abruptly removed from his post

in late July by Beijing.

“We don’t have a response yet, but we just extended that invitation and I would expect we’ll have an opportunity to see each other and to continue the important conversations that I had in Beijing, “ Mr Blinken told reporters, on the sidelines of an event at the United Nations in New York.

Mr Qin has not been seen in public since June 25 –

a mysterious absence after just seven months in the job

that has raised questions about transparency.

China’s Foreign Ministry has said only that Mr Qin was off work for unspecified health reasons.

Mr Blinken met Mr Qin on June 18, on

the first visit by America’s top diplomat to China in five years.

The US State Department said then they held “candid, substantive, and constructive” talks, and Mr Blinken invited Mr Qin to Washington to continue discussions.

Mr Blinken met Mr Wang, 69, who served as foreign minister from 2013 to 2022, in July,

on the sidelines of a regional meeting in Indonesian capital Jakarta

in Mr Qin’s absence.

On Thursday, China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement to Reuters that it was “willing to maintain communications” with the US on a possible future visit by Mr Wang to Washington, but did not elaborate further.

Mr Blinken indicated Washington expected Beijing to respond positively to the invite, noting that after his visit, other members of the Biden administration

such as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen

and

Climate Envoy John Kerry

had also travelled to China.

“We fully expect Chinese counterparts to come to the United States,” Mr Blinken said.

“There is an obligation that both the United States and China responsibly manage this relationship and that starts with talking.” REUTERS