US, Chinese foreign ministers, Blinken and Wang Yi, to meet at G-20 this week

WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of a meeting of G-20 foreign ministers in Bali this week, the State Department said on Tuesday (July 5).

Mr Blinken is due to depart for Asia on Wednesday for a trip that will also take in Thailand lasting until Monday. The meeting with Mr Wang, expected on Saturday, will be the latest high-level contact between US and Chinese officials as President Joe Biden weighs lifting tariffs on some Chinese goods to curb inflation.

The two senior diplomats would “exchange views on current China-US relations and major international and regional issues”, the Foreign Ministry in Beijing said in a statement.

“We’ve had a number of communications at senior levels with our Chinese counterparts about what we expect, not just from the People’s Republic of China but from really all responsible members of the international community regarding Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine,” Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink told reporters in Washington on Tuesday. 

“This will be another opportunity, I think, to have a candid exchange on that, and to convey our expectations about what we would expect China to do, and not to do, in the context of Ukraine,” he added.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen spoke with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He on Monday and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met last month with China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi in Luxembourg.

Despite a growing strategic rivalry between Washington and Beijing, Mr Biden has been considering scrapping tariffs on a range of Chinese goods to curb surging US inflation before November midterm elections for control of Congress.

The White House has said there is no deadline for the decision, but Mr Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are also expected to speak in coming weeks. Foreign ministers from the 20 biggest economies (G-20) are to meet on the Indonesian island of Bali on Friday before a G20 leaders' summit in November, also in Indonesia.

Mr Blinken will also meet with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and will stop in Bangkok, to meet with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai, the State Department said.

Mr Blinken’s priority in his meeting with Mr Wang will be to emphasise the US commitment to “intense diplomacy” with Beijing and to “manage responsibly the intense competition” between the two countries, Mr Kritenbrink said, adding that the US wants to do everything possible to “prevent any miscalculation that could lead inadvertently to conflict and confrontation”.

Russian Foreign Minster Sergei Lavrov is also due to attend the Bali ministerial, but a meeting between him and Mr Blinken is not expected.

The two have not met since before Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine, an action denounced by Washington and its allies, which have been backing Kyiv with weapons supplies.

Shortly before the Russian invasion, China and Russia announced a "no limits" partnership, also denounced by Washington.

But US officials have said they have not seen China evade sanctions or provide military equipment to Russia.

China has refused to condemn Russia's actions in Ukraine and has criticised the sweeping Western sanctions on Moscow.

Analysts foresee a contentious G-20 meeting in which the United States and its allies are expected to blame Moscow for global food shortages since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a major grain exporter, while Russia blames US-led sanctions.

The State Department said Mr Blinken would "reinforce our commitment to working with international partners to confront global challenges, including food and energy insecurity and the threat Russia's continued war against Ukraine presents to the international order."

Mr Blinken will also press to have G-20 ministers discuss the political situation in Myanmar, where the US has accused the military rulers of genocide against the Rohingya minority, the officials said.