China has refused to let US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visit Beijing over concerns that the FBI would release the results of an investigation into a downed suspected Chinese spy balloon, the Financial Times reported yesterday, citing sources.
China told the US that it was not prepared to reschedule a trip that Blinken canceled in February while it remains unclear what the administration of US President Joe Biden would do with the report, the newspaper said, citing four people familiar with the negotiations.
Earlier this week, Blinken said he would pursue a visit to China when the conditions are right.
Photo: AFP
He also added that the goal is not to contain China or engage in a new cold war.
Earlier this month, the US Department of Defense said it could not confirm reports that a Chinese spy balloon had been able to transmit intelligence in real time back to China as it flew over sensitive military sites in the US earlier this year, adding that the probe was still ongoing.
China’s suspected surveillance balloon first passed into US airspace north of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands on Jan. 28. The balloon flew over the US and Canada for about a week before the US military shot it down off the Atlantic Coast.
The Financial Times report came as Blinken visited Vietnam, about 50 years after the last US combat troops left what was then South Vietnam.
Blinken said he seeks to bolster US ties with Vietnam, as it seeks to counter China’s growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.
Blinken and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh pledged to boost relations to new levels as they met just two weeks after the 50th anniversary of the US troop withdrawal that marked the end of the US’ direct military involvement in Vietnam.
Blinken broke ground on a sprawling new US$1.2 billion US embassy compound in Hanoi, a project that the Biden administration hopes would demonstrate its commitment to further improving ties less than 30 years after diplomatic relations were restored in 1995.
Despite concerns over Vietnam’s human rights record, Washington sees Hanoi as a key component of its strategy for the region and has sought to leverage Vietnam’s traditional rivalry with its much larger neighbor to expand US influence in the region.
“We now hope to be able to take [relations] to an even higher level,” Blinken said.
“This has been a very comprehensive and effective relationship and going forward we will continue to deepen relations,” Chinh said. “We highly appreciate the role and responsibility of the US towards the Asia Pacific, or, in a larger scheme, the Indo-Pacific.”
He added that Vietnam is keen to “further elevate our bilateral ties to a new height.”
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