China’s top diplomat embarks on US visit

BEIJING: China’s top diplomat has begun a two-day visit to the US amid rising tensions between the two countries under the new presidency of Donald Trump over the one-China policy, the South China Sea situation and the increasing unease in the Korean Peninsula.

State councillor Yang Jiechi will be the first Chinese official to visit US and hold talks with the new administration after Trump assumed presidency in January.

Yang could well become China’s “point man” in dealings with the US because of his rich experience; he was China’s former envoy to the US and had extensively dealt with US diplomats during his time as the foreign minister.

The trip will coincide with the 45th anniversary of US President Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to China, which broke the ice in the complex relations between the world’s two largest economies. Seven years after that visit, Beijing and Washington officially established diplomatic ties.

“Yang’s visit will coincide with the 45th anniversary of President Richard Nixon’s ice-breaking visit to China in 1972, which paved the way for Beijing and Washington to officially establish diplomatic ties in 1979,” official news agency Xinhua said in a report announcing the visit.

President Xi Jinping and Trump have spoken over phone, followed by a meeting between foreign minister Wang Yi and US secretary of state Rex Tillerson.