The U.S. and China are in talks for top diplomats to meet in Alaska, the South China Morning Post reported, as the world’s two largest economies seek to stabilize their strained relationship.
The proposed meeting in Anchorage would include U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi, the Hong Kong-based newspaper reported, citing a person briefed on the discussions. The talks could also include Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the paper said.
In response to a question about the report Tuesday, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said the agency didn’t “have any future travel or meetings to announce at this time.”
The meeting would represent the most high-level exchange between the two sides since President Joe Biden took office in January. Ties between the U.S. and China sunk to their lowest level in decades under former President Donald Trump, with the two sides trading sanctions and tariffs, expelling journalists and closing consulates.
Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are preparing to visit Japan and South Korea next week, Reuters has reported, as part of Biden’s efforts to demonstrate an early diplomatic focus on Asia. Trips over the Pacific Ocean by U.S. officials often involve stopovers in Alaska.
Chinese diplomats have said the onus to repair ties was on the U.S. after actions that “undermined the bilateral relationship severely” under Trump. “The U.S. has a bigger responsibility to take the initiative in terms of taking action,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a regular news briefing Monday in Beijing.
Biden is planning in the coming days to participate in the first state leaders meeting of a grouping of democracies known as the Quad, which also includes Australia, India and Japan. China has criticized the partnership as an effort to contain its influence.
Yang and then-U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo met in June in Hawaii as ties deteriorated during the American presidential campaign. Those talks did little to prevent an escalation in tensions, as both countries continued to spar on everything from human rights to stock listings.
