blinken asia trip

Blinken halts Asia trip after Covid case in traveling party

KUALA LUMPUR — Secretary of State Antony Blinken cut his Southeast Asia visit short Wednesday due to a Covid case in his traveling party, an official said, in an abrupt halt to a trip aimed at boosting ties in a region where China's influence has grown.

Blinken was due to hold meetings in Thailand on Thursday before making the return to Washington, and the decision was taken in light of a positive case among the traveling press corps, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said.

Blinken and senior officials had tested negative on Wednesday in Kuala Lumpur, when the positive case was confirmed, Price said, and Blinken had called his Thai counterpart to express his deep regret.

"He explained that in order to mitigate the risk of the spread of COVID-19 and to prioritize the health and safety of the U.S. traveling party and those they would otherwise come into contact with, the secretary would be returning to Washington D.C. out of an abundance of caution," Price said in a statement.

The halt to the trip will be a setback for the United States, which has sought to shore up ties with a region that had become uncertain about U.S. commitment after a period of perceived neglect under former President Donald Trump.

China's influence has expanded in Southeast Asia in recent years, with Beijing pressing deeper trade and integration and major infrastructure projects, despite tensions with several countries in the South China Sea.

In an address to a university in Indonesia on Tuesday, Blinken laid out a U.S. strategy for the Indo-Pacific that sought to boost investment and economic ties and offer infrastructure commitments and closer ties in defense and diplomacy, as well as a strengthening of treaty alliances and partnerships.

The individual who tested positive was self-isolating and had tested negative in Jakarta a day earlier, Price said. Blinken and senior staff have also been tested on all stops of his international tour.

Blinken gave a joint news conference on Wednesday with Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah.

A spokesperson for Malaysia's foreign ministry earlier said it was informed of the Covid case by the U.S. embassy early on Wednesday and the individual had been immediately quarantined.

"The person was not involved and has not participated in any of Secretary Blinken's programs in Kuala Lumpur," the spokesperson said.

Watch CBS News

Blinken ends Southeast Asia trip early after journalist tests positive for COVID-19

By Melissa Quinn

December 15, 2021 / 8:42 AM EST / CBS News

Washington — Secretary of State Antony Blinken is cutting short a three-country swing through Southeast Asia after a member of the press traveling with the secretary tested positive for COVID-19, the State Department said Wednesday.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said Blinken's delegation learned of the positive COVID-19 test through routine PCR testing on Wednesday morning upon arriving in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The person, an unidentified journalist traveling with Blinken, tested negative during a previous stop in Jakarta and will remain in isolation.

The secretary of state and senior staff all tested negative for COVID-19 after getting tested in Kuala Lumpur, Price said.

The U.S. embassy in Malaysia said the member of Blinken's traveling party who tested positive was not involved and did not participate in the secretary's activities in Kuala Lumpur.

In a separate statement, Price said Blinken spoke with Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai and "expressed his deep regret to the foreign minister that he would not be able to visit Bangkok this week" in an effort to mitigate the risk of spreading COVID-19. The secretary will be returning to Washington "out of an abundance of caution," Price said.

"The secretary extended an invitation for the foreign minister to visit Washington, D.C. at the earliest opportunity and noted that he looked forward to traveling to Thailand as soon as possible," Price said. "They affirmed that they would use the upcoming engagements to further deepen the U.S.-Thai alliance."

Blinken departed Washington on December 9 to attend a Group of 7 meeting in the United Kingdom and then traveled to Southeast Asia to meet with officials in Indonesia and Malaysia. He was poised to end his trip with visits to Thailand and Honolulu, Hawaii, where he was due to meet with U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Commander Admiral John Aquilino on Friday, though those stops were scrapped. 

Melissa Quinn is a politics reporter for CBSNews.com. She has written for outlets including the Washington Examiner, Daily Signal and Alexandria Times. Melissa covers U.S. politics, with a focus on the Supreme Court and federal courts.

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Blinken ends Southeast Asia trip early after reporter traveling with him tests positive for COVID-19

• Blinken ended a trip to Southeast Asia early after a reporter traveling with him tested positive for COVID-19.
• The top US diplomat skipped a visit to Thailand after traveling to the UK, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
• Blinken and senior staff tested negative on Tuesday, the State Department said.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday abruptly ended a trip to Southeast Asia after a reporter traveling with him tested positive for COVID-19, the State Department said.

"We learned this morning, through our routine PCR testing, that a member of our traveling press pool tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival in Kuala Lumpur," State Department spokesman Ned Price said in statement, per The Washington Post. Blinken and senior staff tested negative on Tuesday, Price said.

The reporter will remain in quarantine for at least 10 days before returning to the US. 

Related stories

"The individual who tested positive will remain in isolation, and we will continue to adhere to and go beyond CDC guidance, including with our rigorous testing protocol, for the remaining traveling party," Price said. 

Instead of making a scheduled visit to Thailand on Thursday, the top US diplomat headed back to the US after traveling to the UK, Indonesia, and Malaysia in recent days. In a separate statement , Price said that Blinken "expressed his deep regret" to the foreign minister of Thailand that he would not be able to make it to Bangkok. 

"The Secretary extended an invitation for the Foreign Minister to visit Washington, D.C. at the earliest opportunity and noted that he looked forward to traveling to Thailand as soon as possible," Price added. 

Blinken's shortened trip comes amid rising concerns over the Omicron variant, which was first detected in the US in mid-November. 

"Omicron is spreading at a rate we have not seen with any previous variant," World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a press briefing on Tuesday, per CNN. "We're concerned that people are dismissing Omicron as mild. Surely, we have learned by now that we underestimate this virus at our peril." 

"Even if Omicron does cause less severe disease, the sheer number of cases could once again overwhelm unprepared health systems," Tedros added, underscoring that 77 countries have reported cases of the variant. 

The CDC, which recently reported that Omicron accounts for 3% of US cases, is urging people to get vaccinated or a booster as soon as possible.

Watch: 6 times Trump contradicted public officials about the coronavirus pandemic

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Blinken cuts short Asia trip after COVID-19 case among travelling group

• Oops! Something went wrong. Please try again later. More content below

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has cut short his trip to Southeast Asia due to a COVID-19 case among his travelling party, a State Department official said on Wednesday.

The decision was made to mitigate the COVID-19 risk and prioritise health and safety, and Blinken had expressed by phone his deep regret to the foreign minister of Thailand, where he was due to attend meetings on Thursday, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said.

The positive case was confirmed on Wednesday while Blinken was in Malaysia. He was in Indonesia the previous two days.

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

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Blinken travels to China amid low expectations and global worries of a new cold war

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at a chiefs of mission reception in the East Room of the White House in Washington, on Tuesday. Blinken heads to China on Friday to meet senior officials, his first visit as secretary of state. Susan Walsh/AP hide caption

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at a chiefs of mission reception in the East Room of the White House in Washington, on Tuesday. Blinken heads to China on Friday to meet senior officials, his first visit as secretary of state.

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Rapprochement or retrenchment? Secretary of State Antony Blinken is headed to Beijing this weekend to meet with senior Chinese officials in a bid to improve cratering U.S.-China relations, even as both countries pursue policies designed to counter the other's influence.

This is Blinken's first trip to China as secretary of state — the first by a member of President Biden's Cabinet — which he was forced to delay after the discovery , back in February, of a Chinese surveillance balloon in U.S. airspace.

Here's why this trip matters.

This is a step toward communication

American officials are hoping that Blinken's upcoming visit will pave the way for more bilateral meetings and reestablish routine exchanges on diplomatic and trade issues. But experts caution these meetings are just a beginning as the two countries figure out how to compete and coexist with one another.

The State Department isn't expecting diplomatic breakthroughs on Blinken's China trip

The state department isn't expecting diplomatic breakthroughs on blinken's china trip.

"The trip is the initial stage of an exploratory process to try to determine if there is mutual intent to moderate the relationship," says Ryan Hass, a former official on the National Security Council during the Obama administration and now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Blinken's trip builds on previous meetings. In May, national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, in Austria. That was followed up by a visit from top Chinese commerce officials to Washington, D.C.

Yet progress is mixed. Earlier this month, China's defense chief Li Shangfu rejected a meeting request from U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin because the U.S. sanctioned Li in 2018 for procuring Russian-made weapons for the Chinese military.

U.S.-China divide looms as Asia security summit begins in Singapore

"It's going to be hard because neither leader wants to be seen as caving to the other side or accommodating the other side's demands or wishes," Hass says.

Zhu Feng, an international relations professor at Nanjing University, says the onus is on the U.S. to first show it is willing to compromise but he is pessimistic any change will happen.

"Right now, the most important thing is the U.S. has locked in on China as its biggest strategic rival, and this is the consensus of the American entire strategic policy establishment, and so there cannot be any substantial movement on the current suppression of China," says Zhu.

Neither China nor the U.S. is backing down on key issues

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang attends a joint news conference with his Dutch counterpart Wopke Hoekstra (not pictured), following their meeting in Beijing, on May 23. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Qin shared concerns on a phone call this week ahead of a planned visit by Blinken to China. Thomas Peter/Pool Photo via AP hide caption

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang attends a joint news conference with his Dutch counterpart Wopke Hoekstra (not pictured), following their meeting in Beijing, on May 23. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Qin shared concerns on a phone call this week ahead of a planned visit by Blinken to China.

China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang held a phone call Tuesday with Blinken in preparation for his trip to China this weekend.

The U.S. State Department said Blinken "discussed the importance of maintaining open lines of communication to responsibly manage the U.S.-PRC [People's Republic of China] relationship to avoid miscalculation and conflict, addressed a range of bilateral and global issues, and made clear the U.S. would continue to use diplomatic engagements to raise areas of concern as well as areas of potential cooperation."

In China's readout , the Foreign Ministry said Qin addressed "new difficulties and challenges" in the countries' relations. Qin "stressed that the United States should respect them, stop interfering in China's internal affairs, and stop undermining China's sovereignty, security and development interests in the name of competition," the Chinese readout said.

"The phone call serves as a reminder to the U.S. side: we would not reject its request for a visit, but it must come only when it is made with sincerity and true intentions to improve bilateral relations," Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University who studies the country's relations with the U.S., told the Global Times , a Chinese state-run tabloid.

Some see the U.S.-China rivalry as an 'existential struggle.' Rep. Andy Kim disagrees

Chinese officials and academics have been repeating this call for a show of "sincerity" from the U.S. at international forums and in diplomatic statements in the past month. They have made those calls in the hopes of building on what Chinese officials call the "the Bali consensus": calls for greater engagement after an amicable in-person meeting between President Biden and China's leader Xi Jinping in Indonesia last year.

But there are differing conceptions of what that "consensus" even entails. "When the Chinese side says, 'the Bali consensus,' I'm not sure that they mean the same thing as the U.S. The U.S actually hasn't used that phrase," says Nathaniel Sher, a senior research analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

"Minister Qin has said he hopes U.S.-China relations can return to a healthy and stable development track, but this is simply wishful thinking," says Zhu, the Nanjing University professor.

American officials are signaling the U.S. is not compromising on core issues such as semiconductor export controls, congressional visits to Taiwan and sanctions on Chinese officials over human rights violations, despite renewed diplomatic engagement with China.

"After investing at home and strengthening ties with allies abroad, now is precisely the time for intense diplomacy," Kurt Campbell, the U.S.' top policy official on Asia, said during a briefing this week . "At the same time, there is nothing inconsistent with competing vigorously and talking with the PRC on a range of issues."

Countries around the world are closely watching

A members of the Philippine Coast Guard takes part in a simulation during a maritime exercise with Japan and U.S. Coast Guard on June 6, off the coast of Bataan province, western Philippines. The drills that took place in waters facing the South China Sea included maneuverings, maritime law enforcement and search and rescue at sea. Jes Aznar/Getty Images hide caption

A members of the Philippine Coast Guard takes part in a simulation during a maritime exercise with Japan and U.S. Coast Guard on June 6, off the coast of Bataan province, western Philippines. The drills that took place in waters facing the South China Sea included maneuverings, maritime law enforcement and search and rescue at sea.

Asian countries are closely watching to see whether the U.S. and China can mend their fractious bilateral tensions — or risk spiraling into a more intense conflict in their backyard.

A recent poll of residents in South Korea, the Philippines and Singapore by the Eurasia Group Foundation found 90% of people are worried about a geopolitical confrontation between the U.S. and China. At the same time, 66% generally have positive views toward both the U.S. and China — but feel forced to pick a side.

"[South Korea] was the most likely to fear that their domestic politics would intensify and polarize as a result of politicians being forced essentially to pick a side between the U.S. and China," says Mark Hannah, an author of the report.

Many Europeans are also feeling caught in the middle. In a survey of 12 European Union member states commissioned by the European Council on Foreign Relations, 63% said they believe there is a new cold war developing between China and the U.S. However, most would prefer to stay neutral in the event of a U.S.-China conflict, according to a separate ECFR survey.

Aowen Cao contributed research from Beijing.

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G7 talks tough on Ukraine, Taiwan and Korea during Blinken's Asia trip

UPDATED AT 07:34 a.m. ET on 2023-04-17.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Japan where he, together with other foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) nations, discussed a common approach to the war in Ukraine Monday, confirming  “ that they remain committed to intensifying, fully coordinating and enforcing sanctions against Russia, as well as to continuing strong support for Ukraine,” according to a Japanese Foreign Affairs Ministry statement.

The statement was in line with the goals of the Biden administration, which are to shore up support for Ukraine and to ensure the continued provision of military assistance to Kyiv, as well as to ramp up punishment against Russia through economic and financial sanctions, a senior official from Blinken's delegation told the Associated Press ahead of the meeting.

Earlier G7 ministers vowed to take a tougher stance on China’s threats to Taiwan, and North Korea’s missile tests.

Meanwhile, Britain’s Financial Times reported that China was refusing to let Blinken visit Beijing over concerns that the FBI will release the results of an investigation into the suspected Chinese spy balloon downed in February.

The FT quoted four people familiar with the matter as saying that “China had told the U.S. it was not prepared to reschedule a trip that Blinken cancelled in February while it remains unclear what the administration of President Joe Biden will do with the report.”

It is unclear when the trip would be rescheduled.

The U.S. military shot the Chinese balloon down over concerns that it was spying on U.S. military installations but China insisted that it was a weather balloon blown off course due to “force majeure.” 

The incident led to Blinken abruptly canceling his ties-mending trip to Beijing, during which he was expected to call on Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

The relationship between Washington and Beijing has been strained in the last few years over issues such as China’s threats to Taiwan and security concerns in the Indo-Pacific.

Upgrading U.S.-Vietnam partnership

Antony Blinken arrived at Karuizawa in Nagano prefecture in central Japan on Sunday after a visit to Vietnam to promote strategic ties with the communist country.

This was Blinken’s first visit to Hanoi as U.S. Secretary of State.

The U.S. is building a U.S.$1.2 billion compound in Hanoi, one of its largest and most expensive embassies in the world.

During his visit, Blinken met with Vietnam’s most senior officials, including the General Secretary of the Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, to discuss “the great possibilities that lie ahead in the U.S.-Vietnam partnership,” the secretary of state wrote on Twitter .

Two weeks before Blinken’s visit, Trong and Biden had a phone conversation during which the two leaders agreed to “promote and deepen bilateral ties,” according to Vietnamese media.

Former enemies Hanoi and Washington normalized their diplomatic relationship in 1995 and in 2013 established a so-called "comprehensive partnership" to promote cooperation in all sectors including the economy, culture exchange and security.

Vietnam’s foreign relations are benchmarked by three levels of partnerships: comprehensive, strategic and comprehensive strategic.

Only four countries in the world belong to the top tier of comprehensive strategic partners: China, Russia, India and South Korea.

Vietnam has strategic partnerships with 16 nations including some U.S. allies such as Japan, Singapore and Australia.

U.S. officials have been hinting at upgrading the ties to the next level strategic partnership which offers deeper cooperation, especially in security and defense, amid new geopolitical challenges posed by an increasingly assertive China.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh told the U.S. secretary of state on Saturday in Hanoi that the consensus reached amongst the  Vietnamese leadership is to “further elevate the bilateral partnership to a new height” adding that “relevant government agencies have been tasked with looking into the process.”

Vietnam analysts such as Carl Thayer from the University of New South Wales in Australia said that an upgrade of Vietnam-U.S. relationship to strategic partnership within this year is possible, despite concerns that it would antagonize Beijing.

The U.S. is currently the largest export market and the second-largest commercial partner for Vietnam.

Hanoi aims to benefit across the board from U.S. assistance, especially in trade, science and technology, Thayer told Radio Free Asia. 

Vietnam as one of the South China Sea claimants has been embroiled in territorial disputes with China and could benefit from greater cooperation in maritime security.

In exchange, “the U.S. would benefit indirectly by assisting Vietnam in capacity-building to address maritime security issues in the South China Sea to strengthen a free and open Indo-Pacific,” said Thayer.

“The U.S. is trying to mobilize and sustain an international coalition to oppose Russia’s war in Ukraine and to deter China from using force against Taiwan and intimidation of South China Sea littoral states,” the Canberra-based political analyst said.

Hanoi’s priority

Some other analysts, such as Bill Hayton from the British think tank Chatham House, said that there might have been a miscalculation on the U.S.’s part.

“Washington is now taking itself for a massive ride in its misunderstanding of what Vietnam wants from the bilateral relationship,” Hayton said.

“All the Communist Party of Vietnam wants is regime security. It has no interest in confronting China,” the author of “A Brief History of Vietnam” said.

Just before Blinken landed in Hanoi, a dissident blogger was sentenced to six years in prison for “spreading anti-state propaganda.”

Nguyen Lan Thang was also a contributor to Radio Free Asia.

The U.S. State Department condemned the sentence and urged the Vietnamese government to “immediately release and drop all charges against Nguyen Lan Thang and other individuals who remain in detention for peacefully exercising and promoting human rights."

“Vietnam is an important partner in the Indo-Pacific, and that partnership can only reach its full potential if the government of Vietnam takes concerted steps to meet its obligations and commitments under international law and improve its human rights record,” a State Department spokesperson said, according to Reuters.

Yet two days later, friends of another blogger, Thai Van Duong, alleged that he was kidnapped by Vietnamese agents and transferred back to Vietnam. Thai was in Bangkok where he was waiting for his political refugee application to be vetted by UNHCR. 

“That was clearly a message from the Ministry of Public Security, demonstrating its power in the face of the United States,” said Bill Hayton.

“Washington is so keen to establish a strategic partnership with Vietnam that the Vietnamese security establishment thinks it will ignore those events,” he added.

Story has been updated to include a statement by Japan's Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Edited by Mike Firn.

• Blinken’s trip to Vietnam may result in possible upgrade for US-Vietnam ties
• Jailed Vietnamese blogger’s wife disagrees with guilty verdict, thanks supporters
• Vietnam court sentences blogger to 6 years in prison
• US, Vietnam raise relations to highest level

• Vietnam mulls own territorial line in Tonkin Gulf
• China gives monks a list of things they can’t do after the Dalai Lama's death
• Rohingya ordered by Myanmar officer to ‘fight for our faith’
• In new movie, the South started the Korean War, as Pyongyang has always claimed
• Chinese tourist tower overlooking North Korea could be demolished

• Van Thinh Phat chairwoman sentenced to death in Vietnam’s biggest fraud trial

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US Pentagon chief speaks with Chinese counterpart for first time since November 2022

FILE - Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin testifies before Senate Committee on Armed Services during a hearing on Department of Defense Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2025 and the Future Years Defense Program on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 9, 2024. Austin has spoken with China’s national defense minister in the latest in a series of U.S. steps to improve communications with the Chinese military and reduce unsafe and aggressive incidents in the Indo-Pacific. It is the first time Austin has talked to Adm. Dong Jun. And it’s the first time he has spoken at length with any Chinese counterpart since November 2022. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with China’s national defense minister Tuesday morning, in the latest in a series of U.S. steps to improve communications with the Chinese military and reduce unsafe and aggressive incidents in the Indo-Pacific.

It was the first time Austin has talked to Adm. Dong Jun and the first time he has spoken at length with any Chinese counterpart since November 2022. The call, which lasted a bit more than an hour, comes as Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to travel to China this month for talks.

Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said that Austin “emphasized the importance of continuing to open lines of military-to-military communication” between the United States and the People’s Republic of China. And he underscored the importance of respect for freedom of navigation on the seas, especially in the South China Sea.

Washington and Beijing have been working to expand communications and ease escalating tensions. Military-to-military contact stalled in August 2022, when Beijing suspended all such communication after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan , which China claims as its own.

The thaw in relations between the two world powers got a kick-start last November when President Joe Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco. About a month later, Gen. CQ Brown , chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke with his Chinese counterpart in a video call — in the first senior military-to-military contact since the Pelosi visit.

Austin’s call with Dong has been widely anticipated, but the admiral was only appointed to the defense job in December. Previous defense minister Wei Fenghe turned down a Pentagon request to speak with Austin last year after the U.S. shot down a Chinese spy balloon that had floated across the country. Austin had previously met with Wei in 2022 on the sidelines of a defense conference in Cambodia.

Defense officials are concerned about unsafe and unprofessional incidents involving the U.S. and Chinese militaries in the Pacific.

Pelosi’s visit sparked a surge in military maneuvers by China. Beijing dispatched warships and aircraft across the median line in the Taiwan Strait, claiming the de facto boundary did not exist, fired missiles over Taiwan itself, and challenged established norms by firing missiles into Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

During the following two years, U.S. military officials repeatedly objected to a range of unsafe intercepts by Chinese aircraft in the Pacific and other dangerous incidents. Some of those confrontations have ebbed a bit, but the U.S. has been concerned about aggressive behavior by Chinese vessels against Philippine ships in the South China Sea.

Ryder said that Austin in his conversation with Dong also discussed Russia’s war in Ukraine, concerns about North Korea and the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

A senior defense official told reporters that Austin’s call on Tuesday gives the U.S. the opportunity to prevent ongoing competition with China from veering into conflict. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide a preview of the call, said the U.S. hasn’t seen any unsafe or unprofessional intercepts of American aircraft since last November, but China’s coercive behavior toward Philippines’ ships risks escalation.

U.S. and Chinese defense officials met earlier this month in Hawaii to discuss aggressive ship and aircraft incidents between the two militaries in the Pacific region. The two-day China-U.S. Military Maritime Consultative Agreement meeting included about 18 military and civilian personnel from each side and it was the first time since 2019 that it was held in person. There was a virtual meeting in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

US Pentagon chief speaks with Chinese counterpart for first time since November 2022

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with China’s national defense minister Tuesday morning, in the latest in a series of U.S. steps to improve communications with the Chinese military and reduce unsafe and aggressive incidents in the Indo-Pacific.

It was the first time Austin has talked to Adm. Dong Jun and the first time he has spoken at length with any Chinese counterpart since November 2022. The call, which lasted a bit more than an hour, comes as Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to travel to China this month for talks.

Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said that Austin “emphasized the importance of continuing to open lines of military-to-military communication” between the United States and the People’s Republic of China. And he underscored the importance of respect for freedom of navigation on the seas, especially in the South China Sea.

Washington and Beijing have been working to expand communications and ease escalating tensions. Military-to-military contact stalled in August 2022, when Beijing suspended all such communication after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan , which China claims as its own.

The thaw in relations between the two world powers got a kick-start last November when President Joe Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco. About a month later, Gen. CQ Brown , chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke with his Chinese counterpart in a video call — in the first senior military-to-military contact since the Pelosi visit.

Austin’s call with Dong has been widely anticipated, but the admiral was only appointed to the defense job in December. Previous defense minister Wei Fenghe turned down a Pentagon request to speak with Austin last year after the U.S. shot down a Chinese spy balloon that had floated across the country. Austin had previously met with Wei in 2022 on the sidelines of a defense conference in Cambodia.

Defense officials are concerned about unsafe and unprofessional incidents involving the U.S. and Chinese militaries in the Pacific.

Pelosi’s visit sparked a surge in military maneuvers by China. Beijing dispatched warships and aircraft across the median line in the Taiwan Strait, claiming the de facto boundary did not exist, fired missiles over Taiwan itself, and challenged established norms by firing missiles into Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

During the following two years, U.S. military officials repeatedly objected to a range of unsafe intercepts by Chinese aircraft in the Pacific and other dangerous incidents. Some of those confrontations have ebbed a bit, but the U.S. has been concerned about aggressive behavior by Chinese vessels against Philippine ships in the South China Sea.

Ryder said that Austin in his conversation with Dong also discussed Russia’s war in Ukraine, concerns about North Korea and the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

A senior defense official told reporters that Austin’s call on Tuesday gives the U.S. the opportunity to prevent ongoing competition with China from veering into conflict. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide a preview of the call, said the U.S. hasn’t seen any unsafe or unprofessional intercepts of American aircraft since last November, but China’s coercive behavior toward Philippines’ ships risks escalation.

U.S. and Chinese defense officials met earlier this month in Hawaii to discuss aggressive ship and aircraft incidents between the two militaries in the Pacific region. The two-day China-U.S. Military Maritime Consultative Agreement meeting included about 18 military and civilian personnel from each side and it was the first time since 2019 that it was held in person. There was a virtual meeting in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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State Dept. Is Sending Its Top Diplomat for East Asia to China

The announcement comes days after President Biden met jointly with the leaders of Japan and the Philippines to discuss Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific region.

By Aishvarya Kavi

Reporting from Washington

The top U.S. diplomat for East Asia will travel to China on Sunday, the State Department announced, just days after President Biden met with the leaders of Japan and the Philippines in Washington as part of a broad diplomatic outreach in the region to counter China’s aggression.

Daniel J. Kritenbrink, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, will travel with Sarah Beran, Mr. Biden’s top China adviser on the National Security Council. They will be in China until Tuesday, meeting with officials “as part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication and to responsibly manage competition,” according to a statement from the State Department.

China’s moves in the Indo-Pacific region were a focus at the White House this week during a three-day state visit by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan that ended with a first-ever three-way summit with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines. That nation has borne the brunt of China’s intimidation campaign in the South China Sea.

Tensions between China and the United States have recently increased amid concern that China might begin a conflict over Taiwan, and because the United States is treaty-bound to defend the Philippines.

In a meeting at the State Department on Friday, Enrique Manalo, the foreign secretary of the Philippines, said that “China’s escalation of its harassment” continued to take a toll on the country, recently injuring four Filipino seamen. Also present at the meeting were Antony J. Blinken, the secretary of state; Lloyd J. Austin III, the secretary of defense; Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser; and their three counterparts from the Philippines.

In the past several years, Japan has moved closer to the United States on countering China by increasing military spending and siding with Washington in global diplomacy on the world stage. That has included standing with Ukraine in its war against Russia, while China reaffirms ties with Russia.

The last high-level U.S. official to make a trip to China was Janet L. Yellen, the treasury secretary, who returned from Beijing this month with little to show for four days of top-level economic meetings.

Mr. Biden concluded the Thursday meeting with his counterparts from Japan and the Philippines by saying that America’s commitment to their defense was not in question.

“When we stand as one,” he said, “we are able to forge a better peace for all.”

Aishvarya Kavi is based in the Washington bureau. More about Aishvarya Kavi

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China supporting Russia in massive military expansion, US says

Beijing helping with drone production, space-based capabilities and ballistic missile production

China is helping Russia undertake its biggest military expansion since Soviet times, ramping up sales of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology that Moscow is using to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weaponry for its war against Ukraine , according to a US assessment.

US officials are hoping the release of the intelligence will encourage European allies to press China , as the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, heads to Beijing this weekend and G7 foreign ministers meet next week in Italy.

Announcing US findings, officials said China was helping Russia in the production of drones, space-based capabilities and machine-tool exports vital for producing ballistic missiles.

China has been the key factor in revitalising Russia’s defense industrial base , “which had otherwise suffered significant setbacks” since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a senior US official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

“Russia is undertaking its most ambitious defense expansion since the Soviet era and on a faster timeline than we believed possible early on in this conflict,” the official said.

“Our view is that one of the most gamechanging moves available to us at this time to support Ukraine is to persuade the PRC [People’s Republic of China] to stop helping Russia reconstitute its military industrial base,” the official said.

“Russia would struggle to sustain its war effort without PRC inputs,” he said.

US officials said that China provided more than 70% of the $900m (£723m) in machine tools – probably used to build ballistic missiles – imported in the last quarter of 2023 by Russia.

They also said that 90% of Russia’s microelectronics imports – used to produce missiles, tanks and aircraft – came from China last year.

The US has repeatedly warned China against supporting Russia and both Chinese and US officials say Beijing has stopped short of directly providing weapons to Russia, which has turned to heavily sanctioned North Korea and Iran to replenish its arms supply.

US officials believe that China, anxious after its Russian allies’ early setbacks on the battlefield, has instead focused on sending material that ostensibly has non-military uses.

President Joe Biden’s administration is hoping that European powers can make the difference with China, which is facing economic headwinds and is sensitive about trade pressure.

The secretary of state, Antony Blinken, is expected to make the case on China’s ties with Russia as he meets top diplomats of other industrial democracies at the G7 talks in Capri, Italy.

Blinken is also planning a visit in the coming weeks to China, on the heels of a trip by the treasury secretary, Janet Yellen.

The administration hopes that such dialogue, including a recent telephone call between Biden and the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, can help contain tensions between the world’s two largest economies but US officials have stressed they will still press on concerns.

The deputy secretary of state, Kurt Campbell, said this week that Europe’s stability was the top interest historically of the US and that it would hold China accountable if Russia makes gains.

Also on Friday, the US and UK prohibited metal-trading exchanges from accepting new aluminium, copper and nickel produced by Russia and barred the import of the metals in the latest effort to disrupt Russian export revenue.

The US treasury department said Friday’s action would prohibit the London Metal Exchange and Chicago Mercantile Exchange from accepting new Russian production of aluminium, copper and nickel.

“Metal exchanges provide a central role in facilitating the trading of industrial metals around the globe,” the treasury department said in a statement.

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Reporting by Alistair Smout in London and Kanishka Singh in Washington, Editing by William Maclean and Lincoln Feast.

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Kanishka Singh is a breaking news reporter for Reuters in Washington DC, who primarily covers US politics and national affairs in his current role. His past breaking news coverage has spanned across a range of topics like the Black Lives Matter movement; the US elections; the 2021 Capitol riots and their follow up probes; the Brexit deal; US-China trade tensions; the NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan; the COVID-19 pandemic; and a 2019 Supreme Court verdict on a religious dispute site in his native India.

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