John Kerry expected to travel to China in first visit by top Biden official
U.S. climate envoy John F. Kerry is expected to travel to China next week in an attempt to carve out climate change as an area of closer collaboration amid deepening tensions between the two countries.
The former secretary of state is expected to travel to Shanghai for meetings with Chinese officials, according to people familiar with the situation. The trip, less than a month after a face-to-face meeting between senior Chinese and U.S. diplomats in Alaska ended in traded diatribes and insults, would be the first official visit to China by a top Biden administration official.
A State Department spokesman said the department does not have any “travel to announce at this time.” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to questions about the potential visit.
Kerry planned to meet with his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua, China’s special climate envoy, according to one U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive visit, which could still be called off. Kerry and Xie have already started discussions, according to the State Department.
The trip underlines the Biden administration’s efforts to collaborate with — as well as compete against — China as the two sides clash over human rights, trade practices and security while competing for global influence.
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