BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th July, 2023) Chinese Central Foreign Affairs Office Director Wang Yi said at a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday that the latter's recent visit to China was an important step toward improving bilateral relations and now it was time to move to practical actions.
The two met on the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting in Jakarta. The Department of State described the meeting as "candid and constructive."
"When Mr. Secretary of State visited China this month, President Xi Jinping expressed important and guiding views on the stabilization and development of Сhinese-US relations. Through deep and frank communication, the two sides reached some consensus, most importantly on the return to the Bali Agenda. An important step was taken to correct the course of this huge ship of Chinese-US relations," Wang said, as quoted by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Wang added that the key to the next step will be to take practical measures to put relations between the two countries back on track.
"The United States should reflect on the essence of why bilateral relations faced such difficulties. It is necessary to translate into real actions all the agreements reached by the heads of the two countries on the island of Bali, as well as to realize all the promises that US President Joe Biden repeatedly made," Wang said.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the meeting was frank, pragmatic and constructive, and both sides agreed to continue communicating.
Blinken's visit in late June was the first by the US secretary of state to China in five years and was aimed at improving relations between the countries, which have deteriorated significantly over a number of issues, including Taiwan, the incident involving the shooting down of a Chinese balloon over the US, and ongoing disagreements over trade and technology.
