The US expects further calls and engagements with China in the coming weeks.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken did not meet with China's Foreign Minister on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in India.
(Reuters)- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken did not meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on the sidelines of the G20 summit in India, as the two sides had already extended talks in Munich last month, a U.S. State Department spokesman said Thursday.
Speaking at a regular briefing, Ned Price said he expects there to be "further calls and engagements" with China in the coming weeks.
"But we just took advantage of an opportunity a few weeks ago," he said, when asked why there was no meeting at the G20 foreign ministers' summit in New Delhi.
Last month, President Joe Biden said he hoped to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping about an incident in which the United States shot down what they said was a Chinese spy balloon, worsening already strained relations between the two countries. No timeframe was given for the conversation.
Blinken met with Chinese diplomat Wang Yi on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on February 19 and warned of the consequences should China provide material support to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Blinken said Washington was concerned that Beijing was considering supplying weapons to Moscow.
US officials believe China will be concerned in the coming weeks about the National People's Congress (NPC), which begins its annual session on Sunday. The session is expected to reveal the biggest government reshuffle in a decade, as China grapples with a range of domestic and foreign issues.
Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met on Thursday on the sidelines of the G20 summit, his first face-to-face meeting with his counterpart since the invasion of Ukraine.