TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is headed to China for high-level talks from April 24-26.

Blinken is scheduled to meet with senior Chinese officials including Foreign Minister Wang Yi (王毅) in Shanghai and Beijing to discuss bilateral, regional, and global issues, including cross-strait issues and the South China Sea, according to the State Department. The secretary will also share efforts to realize the commitments agreed upon by President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平) last November on resuming bilateral cooperation.

Blinken is expected to reaffirm the importance of the U.S. and China to pragmatically manage competition, especially in areas where the two countries disagree.

Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink and National Security Council Senior Director for China and Taiwan Affairs Sarah Beran returned from Beijing last week after meeting with China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Deputy Director Qiu Kaiming (仇開明).

Kritenbrink stressed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and assured Beijing there was no change to the U.S. “one China” policy.

These back-to-back China visits come amid increasing Chinese threats towards Taiwan. Despite continuous calls for peace in the Taiwan Strait from the international community, Beijing has ramped up military activity around Taiwan.

The possibility of a Chinese invasion has prompted the U.S. to help Taiwan bolster its defense capabilities. On April 20, the U.S. House of Representatives approved US$8.12 billion (NT$264.2 billion) for Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific region. 

Of that, US$2 billion in the Foreign Military Financing Program goes to Taiwan and other U.S. regional security partners to counter Chinese aggression. An additional US$1.9 billion is for replenishing defense articles and defense services provided to Taiwan and regional partners.