The U.S. secretary of state said in an interview that his meeting with President Xi Jinping marked an 'important start' to stabilizing relations.
that China says were necessary to defend its national sovereignty but the U.S. has labeled dangerous.
Blinken's trip to China, the first by a U.S. secretary of state since 2018, was postponed in February after the discovery of an alleged Chinese spy balloon over U.S. territory. Last week there were concerns Blinken's trip could again be postponed at the last minute after U.S. officials alleged that China had a spy station in Cuba, which both Chinese and Cuban officials denied."Of course this is not something new," he said. "This is something that's been going on for a number of years and something that we've been taking action on for a couple of years.
Congressional Republicans had expressed opposition to Blinken's trip, saying the White House needs to take a harder line with Beijing. Blinken said it would be "totally irresponsible" not to engage with China.
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