After China named its ambassador to the United States to be its next foreign minister, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with the incoming Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang over the phone on Sunday, Blinken reported on Twitter.
In his phone chat with Qin, he talked about the US-China relationship and the importance of keeping lines of communication open.
China on Friday appointed Qin, its ambassador to the United States and a close confidant of President Xi Jinping, as its new foreign minister as Beijing and Washington work to repair strained ties.
Qin, 56, succeeds Wang Yi, who held the position of foreign minister for the preceding eleven years. Wang, 69, was elevated to the Chinese Communist Party’s politburo in October and is anticipated to have a larger impact on Chinese foreign policy.
Although Qin’s 17-month service as ambassador to Washington was relatively brief (his predecessor having held the position for 8 years), the relationship between the US and China did not improve during Qin’s time in office.
During Wang’s tenure as foreign minister, Beijing and Washington’s disagreements on a variety of topics, including trade and Taiwan, sharply increased.
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