Blinken meets with Xi after all

There was an unexpected twist in Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s schedule today during his trip to China. After repeatedly refusing requests for a meeting or even a call, Chinese President Xi Jinping decided to host a brief meeting with Blinken. The stated purpose of the trip was supposedly to “lower the temperature” and lessen tensions between America and China, something that Xi had previously not expressed a lot of interest in. But he’s apparently changed his mind, at least to some degree. Unfortunately, the announcements that were released after the meeting didn’t suggest that any real progress had been made. The most Xi would say is that the two sides “have agreed to follow through on the common understandings President Biden and I reached in Bali.” (NY Post)Read More