US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told a senior Chinese diplomat during their meeting on Thursday that the two forces need to re-establish military contact, but no progress is being seen, according to a US official.
An official who wished to remain anonymous said that during talks in Jakarta with Wang Yi, Blinken stressed: “We have a responsibility to keep channels of communication between us, including between our two armies, open, and I think that we must do it urgently… We haven’t reached it yet.” “.
Accusation of “electronic hacking”
Blinken met today with Director of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China Wang Yi on the sidelines of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Jakarta in an effort to ease tensions that could flare up. again between the two powers after accusing China of electronic piracy.
The meeting, held on the sidelines of the ASEAN meeting in Jakarta, is the second between Blinken and Wang since their meeting in Beijing in June aimed at reducing tensions between the two superpowers.
“Good to see you,” Blinken said to Wang with a smile and shook hands in front of the American and Chinese media at a hotel in Jakarta, then they entered for negotiations without commenting to reporters.
The meeting took place despite IT giant Microsoft’s announcement two days ago that Chinese hackers had attacked the email accounts of a number of federal agencies and the State Department.
The Jakarta talks came about a month after Blinken’s visit to Beijing was the first visit by a US secretary of state in almost five years. During his visit, Blinken met with President Xi Jinping, Foreign Minister Chen Gan and Wang Yi.
Beijing and Washington said that Blinken’s visit was a success.
