Blinken planning to travel to China soon for high-level talks
CBSN
Washington — Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to travel to China for high-level talks in the coming weeks, in what would be his first trip to the country since tensions flared between Washington and Beijing earlier this year.
Details of the visit are still being finalized, but planning is underway for Blinken to make the trip this month, three sources familiar with the matter told CBS News on Tuesday.
Blinken was set to visit China and meet with President Xi Jinping in February, but the trip was scuttled following the U.S. military shootdown of a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina after it drifted across the country. Vedant Patel, a State Department spokesman, said Tuesday that he had "no travel for the Secretary to announce," but pointed to previous statements that Blinken's trip to China would be rescheduled "when conditions allow."
