China's Foreign Minister Paves Way for Xi Jinping's US Trip

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit the U.S. on October 26 to 29 for high-level talks, setting the stage for a meeting between President Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in the U.S. next month.

In the past few months, doubts had emerged around Chinese leader Xi's participation at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in San Francisco in November, with tensions between the two countries at their highest level in recent decades.

Wang will hold meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

The two sides are looking to stabilize bilateral relations by keeping channels of diplomatic communication open, some of which have remained severed for the past year despite some high-level visits by U.S. officials to China.

On Tuesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed Wang's trip to Washington, saying that it was hoped the two sides would "properly manage differences."

"We hope that the U.S. will work with China to follow through on the important common understandings between the two heads of state, enhance communication and dialogue, expand practical cooperation, properly manage differences," Mao Ning, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said on Tuesday.

Wang, who is also director of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Foreign Affairs Commission, is one of China's most significant diplomats. He reassumed charge of the Foreign Ministry after Qin Gang was removed from the position for reasons Beijing hasn't officially revealed.

"Secretary Blinken and Director Wang will discuss a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues as part of ongoing efforts to manage the U.S.-China relationship responsibly and to maintain open channels of communication," the U.S. State Department said in a statement.

On Tuesday, Xie Feng, Beijing's envoy to Washington, said that conflict between the two powers should "never be allowed" and attempts to decouple the two economies would "never work." Xie made the remarks at the annual Gala dinner of the National Committee on the U.S. China Relations in Washington, where he read out a message by Xi.

Wang will also discuss the situation in the Middle East as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict drags on.

On Tuesday, Blinken told the U.N. Security Council that he would work with Wang to reduce the chances of further escalation in the Middle East.

"I look forward to continuing to work with my counterpart from the People's Republic of China to do precisely that when he visits Washington later this week," Blinken said.

On October 7, Hamas led the deadliest militant attack on Israel in history. During the attack, 1,400 people were killed in Israel, with 212 taken into Gaza as hostages, Reuters reported. Israel subsequently launched airstrikes on Gaza. As of October 25, at least 5,791 people have been killed in Gaza by Israeli forces, according to Reuters, citing the Palestinian Health Ministry.

In a recent call with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, Wang said that Israel has the "right to self-defense." In a separate call, he told his Palestinian counterpart Riyad Al-Maliki that China had "deep sympathy" with the people of Gaza.

Beijing had earlier expressed "deep disappointment" on October 19 after the U.S. blocked a Security Council resolution proposed by Brazil calling for a humanitarian pause in hostilities in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

China has called for a ceasefire in the conflict while repeating its long-held position that it backs a two-state solution.