US AND CHINA PLEDGE TO STABILISE TENSE RELATIONSHIP AFTER TALKS

The US and China have pledged to stabilise their tense relationship following US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s two-day visit to Beijing.

Mr Blinken met China’s President Xi Jinping for talks today, restarting high-level communications between the rival superpowers.

Mr Xi said they had made progress, while Mr Blinken indicated that both sides were open to further talks.

But the top US diplomat made clear that there remained major differences.

Blinken said he was “clear-eyed” about China and there were “many issues on which both countries profoundly and vehemently disagree.

Relations between Beijing and Washington have plummeted in the wake of a Trump-era trade war, Beijing’s assertive claims over Taiwan and the shooting down of an alleged Chinese spy balloon over the US earlier this year.

Mr Blinken’s visit is the first by a top US diplomat in almost five years