(Chicago) The head of the American diplomacy Antony Blinken expressed Friday a drop in tensions with China, while worrying again about Taiwan.
Asked during an exchange at the University of Chicago to find out if the temperature had dropped with the Asian giant, he replied: “I think so, because when you discuss, when you engage, it tends to have this effect “.
“The rest of the world expects us to handle this relationship responsibly,” he continued, as other countries “know it affects them too.”
Mr. Blinken will visit Beijing on February 5 and 6 according to a US official, the first trip at this level to China since that of his Republican predecessor Mike Pompeo in 2018.
The trip was decided on the sidelines of a summit in Indonesia in November between US Presidents Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
But Mr. Blinken at the same time worried about Taiwan, citing Beijing’s attempts to isolate the island – considered by the Chinese authorities as part of its territory – and a series of military maneuvers.
“What we have seen over the past few years is, I believe, China deciding that they are no longer comfortable with the status quo” on the island, he said. .
“This is what we tell the Chinese: you say it is a question of your sovereignty, we answer you that it directly concerns the United States and the rest of the world”, citing the crucial role of Taiwan for the world economy with its role in the manufacture of semiconductors.
Mr. Blinken went to Chicago (north) on Friday, where he notably met members of the Ukrainian community.