https://apnews.com/article/us-china-blinken-biden-beijing-trip-4f75102f91b9ee0e326d59acb9103b96
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken is planning to travel to China next week as the Biden administration pushes to improve ties that hit a new low in February after a Chinese surveillance balloon was shot down over U.S. airspace.
U.S. officials say Blinken expects to be in Beijing on June 18 for meetings with senior Chinese officials, including with Foreign Minister Qin Gang and possibly President Xi Jinping.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because neither the State Department nor the Chinese foreign ministry has yet confirmed the trip.
The visit, which was agreed between Xi and President Joe Biden last year at a meeting in Bali, had been initially planned for February but was postponed after the spy balloon incident. Beijing insists the craft was a weather balloon that strayed off course.
Since then, there have been contacts between the U.S. and China, but they have been rare as tensions have risen over China’s conduct in the South China Sea, aggressive actions toward Taiwan and support for Russia's war against Ukraine.
美聯社及路透9日引述美國官員報導，美國國務卿布林肯下周將出訪中國大陸進行外交會談，預定18日在北京會晤中方高官，包括中國外長秦剛，也可能獲中國國家主席習近平接見。
若成行，布林肯將是自2018年美國前總統川普任內的國務卿龐培歐以來，訪中的美國最高層級官員。
美國國務院未能立即對前述報導置評。布林肯2月因疑似中國間諜氣球飛越美國，並被美國軍方擊落的事件，取消原定的訪中行程，而布林肯的中國行，原本是由習近平和美國總統拜登去年11月在印尼峇里島「20國集團」（G20）高峰會場邊舉行「拜習會」時同意。
中國外交部亦尚未證實布林肯此一行程。
美國政治新聞網站Politico於8日報導，美國國務院仍正敲定布林肯訪中的細節。1名知情人士甚至指稱，他可望在目前的中東行結束後飛抵北京。
