U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in China to a reception that was fairly muted.
Some details have caught the media’s attention like the lack of a red carpet for Blinken when he arrived at China’s airport. Even though Beijing doesn’t typically roll out red carpets for other U.S. secretaries of state either except for Hilary Clinton in 2012.
Relatively low-level officials greeted him when he arrived. He was received by Yang Tao, an official in charge of North American affairs inside China’s foreign ministry.
Beijing’s biggest media mouthpiece also kept its response low-key. Blinken met with his Chinese counterpart Sunday afternoon. But the state broadcaster’s evening news program made no mention of the visit. As for the print side, Beijing’s official mouthpiece Xinhua news agency did have a piece out, but it didn’t report on Blinken’s comments during the meeting. Instead, it focused on the warning China’s foreign minister directed toward the U.S.