FM Wang to meet Blinken in Laos

Beijing: China’s top diplomat Wang Yi will meet with US counterpart Antony Blinken on the sidelines of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) talks in Laos, Beijing’s foreign ministry said Friday.

“Foreign Minister Wang Yi will meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Laos,” said foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning.

The two top diplomats would “exchange views on issues of common concern”, Mao said. She did not say when the meeting would take place, but said Beijing “will release information in a timely manner regarding the specific time of the meeting and the circumstances of the meeting”. “You can stay tuned,” Mao added.

Blinken said last week he was planning to meet with Wang in Laos.”I speak to him on a fairly regular basis, and I’ll be seeing him next week, in fact, in Laos,” Blinken said during a security forum in the US state of Colorado.

Despite disagreements in several key areas, relations between the United States and China have stabilized since a summit between US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in November 2023.

But the two countries remain at loggerheads over everything from trade to human rights and the status of the self-ruled island of Taiwan.