The United States is hoping that China can help prevent the spread of two ongoing conflicts in both the Middle East and eastern Europe as China's top diplomat arrives in the U.S. for a week of high-level talks.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Washington, D.C., this week to meet with top Biden administration officials and possibly the president as well. Over three days of meetings that begin Thursday, the visit is expected to lay the groundwork for a summit between President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping next month.
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In addition to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, topics are expected to also include the war between Russia and Ukraine, tensions over Taiwan, and climate change. American leaders have voiced disappointment in China over its support for Russia and its relative silence on the conflict in the Middle East. The world's two economic superpowers are also at odds over issues like human rights, renewable energy, the South China Sea, and North Korea's nuclear arms.
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Nonetheless, both sides have expressed willingness to cooperate following visits to China in recent months by Secretary of State Antony Blinkin, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, climate envoy John Kerry, and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
China said Wang will have an "in-depth exchanges of views" with U.S. leaders this week on a wide range of issues ahead of the potential Biden-Xi meeting. The last time the Chinese president visited the U.S. was in 2017, when former President Donald Trump welcomed him at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to press him on U.S-China trade relations.
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