ALBAWABA - Over a phone call earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang, where the latter emphasized China's refusal to the U.S. having a hand in their internal affairs.
In his call with Qin Gang, Blinken discussed “the importance of maintaining open lines of communication” to responsibly manage bilateral relations to “avoid miscalculation and conflict,” US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement, CNN reported.
Qin directly told Blinken that the U.S. "stop interfering in China's internal affairs, and stop harming the country's sovereignty, security, and development interests in the name of competition,"
On his end, Blinken stressed the importance of keeping strings attached with China as communication is important "to avoid miscalculation and conflict". He also discussed a wide range of bilateral and global matters.
Speculations about Blinken's visit date to Beijing this month have been roaming the internet, however, no official date has been released yet.
The relations between the two countries took an even further turn after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as China's stance against Western countries, especially the U.S., backed Ukraine in its fight against Russia.