Blinken discusses US-China ties with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang
Jan 01, 2023
Washington [US], January 2 : United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a phone call with China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang, discussed the Washington-Beijing ties and to keep the lines of communication open.
Taking to Twitter, Blinken said, "Spoke by phone this morning with incoming People's Republic of China Foreign Minister Qin Gang as he departs Washington for his new role. We discussed the US-PRC relationship and maintaining open lines of communication."
On Friday, China appointed Qin Gang, who was the ambassador to the US, as the country's new foreign minister, Chinese state media said.
This decision was made by the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee on Friday, Global Times reported.
Qin, 56, will replace Wang Yi, who is now a Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and State Councilor, the report added.
On Thursday, the Chinese ambassador had warned Washington that it could face "military conflict" with Beijing over the future status of Taiwan.
"If the Taiwanese authorities, emboldened by the United States, keep going down the road for independence, it most likely will involve China and the United States, the two big countries, in a military conflict," Qin told US-based publication NPR in his first one-on-one interview since assuming his post in Washington, D.C., last July.
Qin, who arrived in Washington last year at a time of bipartisan discontent with China, told NPR that any ideas of "changing China" were always "an illusion."
