The United States has formally invited China's newly reappointed foreign minister, Wang Yi, to Washington, the U.S. State Department said, after Wang's predecessor was abruptly removed from his post by Beijing. The invitation to Wang was extended on Monday during a meeting at the State Department between U.S. Assistant Secretary for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink and Yang Tao, Director General of the North American and Oceania Affairs at China's Foreign Ministry, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told a press briefing. "In the meeting yesterday, we extended the invitation that had previously been made to foreign minister Qin Gang and made clear that invitation did transfer over," Miller said. Miller did not say if the Chinese side had accepted the invitation but added that this was Washington's expectation. "We certainly expect that it is something that they would accept and is a trip that we expect to happen, but we have not yet scheduled a date," Miller said. (https://neuters.de/world/us-says-formally-invites-new-chinese-foreign-minister-wang-yi-washington-2023-08-01/) A spokesperson for China's Washington embassy said that in the "consultation" with Kritenbrink, the two sides had "candid, in-depth and constructive exchanges of views on China-U.S. relations as well as global and regional issues of mutual interest." "Concerning the high-level exchanges, both side have maintained necessary communication," the spokesperson added. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Qin on June 18, on the first visit by America's top diplomat to China in five years. The U.S. State Department said then they held "candid, substantive, and constructive" talks, and Blinken invited Qin to Washington to continue discussions. Blinken subsequently met Wang on the sidelines of a regional meeting in Jakarta in Qin's absence.
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