US-China talks start with warnings about misunderstandings and miscalculations

BEIJING (AP) — The United States and China butted heads over a number of contentious bilateral, regional and global issues as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Friday with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Both diplomats underscored the importance of keeping lines of communication open but they each lamented that divisions between their countries were increasing and becoming more serious in nature.

“Overall, the China-U.S. relationship is beginning to stabilize across the areas,” Wang told Blinken. “But at the time, the negative factors in the relationship are still increasing and building and the relationship is facing all kinds of disruptions.”

“Should China and the United States keep to the right direction of moving forward with stability or return to a downward spiral?” he asked. “This is a major question before our two countries and tests our sincerity and ability.”