U.S., Chinese Foreign Ministers to Meet at G20 this Week

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 foreign ministers in Bali this week, the State Department said on Tuesday.

Blinken is due to depart for Asia on Wednesday for a trip lasting until Monday. The meeting with Wang, expected on Saturday, will be the “latest high-level contact” between U.S. and Chinese officials as President Joe Biden weighs lifting tariffs on some Chinese goods to curb inflation.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen spoke with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He on Monday and U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan met last month with China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi in Luxembourg

Strategic Rivalry
Despite a growing strategic rivalry between Washington and Beijing, Biden has been “considering scrapping tariffs on a range of Chinese goods” to curb surging U.S. inflation before November midterm elections for control of Congress.

The White House has said there is no ‘deadline’ for the decision, but Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are also expected to speak in coming weeks.

Foreign ministers from the 20 biggest economies (G20) are to meet on the Indonesian island of Bali on Friday before a G20 leaders’ summit in November, also in Indonesia.

Blinken also will meet with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and will stop in Bangkok, to meet with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai, the State Department said.

The State Department said Blinken would “reinforce our commitment to working with international partners to confront global challenges, including food and energy insecurity and the threat Russia’s continued war against Ukraine presents to the international order.”

Reuters/Shakirat Sadiq