WASHINGTON: China’s top diplomat opens talks on Thursday in Washington as President Xi Jinping decides whether to visit the United States next month to take up the slew of rifts between the world’s two largest economies.

President Joe Biden has invited Xi to San Francisco to participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit but he has also stood firm on China in the run-up, keeping up a stream of targeted sanctions and staunchly backing US allies in disputes with Beijing.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will begin his visit by meeting Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who traveled to Beijing in June and will welcome his counterpart for a closed-door dinner.

On Friday, Wang will speak at the White House with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. No meeting has been announced with Biden but an encounter is widely expected after Xi received Blinken in Beijing.

US officials have repeatedly spoken of creating “guardrails” with China to prevent worst-case scenarios and have sought, without success, to restore contact between the two militaries.Biden issued a warning after the Philippines, a treaty-bound ally and former colony of the United States, said Chinese vessels deliberately hit Manila’s boats in dispute-rife waters — an account disputed by Beijing.

“Any attack on Filipino aircraft, vessels or armed forces will invoke our mutual defense treaty with the Philippines,” Biden said.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2023