「中英」布林肯即将访华，中美均希望促成更多高层外交

The State Department announced on Wednesday that Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken planned to leave on Friday for a visit to Beijing to stress to Chinese officials “the importance of maintaining open lines of communication to responsibly manage” the relationship between the two nations.

美国国务院周三宣布，国务卿安东尼·J·布林肯计划周五启程访问北京，向中国官员强调“保持开放的沟通渠道以负责任地管理”两国关系的“重要性”。

Mr. Blinken also plans to “raise bilateral issues of concern, global and regional matters, and potential cooperation on shared transnational challenges,” the State Department said.

布林肯还计划“提出双边关切的议题、全球和区域事务，以及在共同的跨国挑战方面合作的可能性”。

The trip is one that Mr. Blinken had to reschedule after canceling a planned visit on the day of his departure in early February, when a Chinese spy balloon flying over the United States caused a political and public uproar. He plans to meet with officials for two days in Beijing before flying to a conference in London focused on the reconstruction of Ukraine.

2月初，一只中国间谍气球飞越美国上空，引起了政界和公众的骚动，布林肯不得不在出发当天取消了计划好的访华行程，重新安排。他这次计划在北京与官员会面两天，然后飞往伦敦参加一个聚焦乌克兰重建的会议。

Why It Matters: The U.S. and China want to maintain high-level diplomacy, despite tensions.

为何这很重要：尽管关系紧张，美国和中国仍然希望保持高层外交。

This would be Mr. Blinken’s first trip to China as secretary of state. Chinese and U.S. officials are still working out whether he will meet with Xi Jinping, China’s leader.

这将是布林肯作为国务卿首次访华。中国和美国官员仍在探索他是否会与中国领导人习近平会面。

Both governments hope the visit will lead to a series of trips by senior U.S. officials to China over the summer. Potential visitors include Janet L. Yellen, the treasury secretary; Gina M. Raimondo, the commerce secretary; and John Kerry, a special envoy for climate.

两国政府都希望这次访问能促成美国高级官员在今年夏天对中国进行一系列访问。潜在的访客包括财政部长珍妮特·L·耶伦 、商务部长吉娜·雷蒙多，以及气候问题特使约翰·克里。

The visits could pave the way for a trip by Mr. Xi to San Francisco in November for a leaders summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group of nations that would include President Biden.

这些访问可能为习近平11月前往旧金山参加亚太经济合作组织国家集团领导人峰会铺平道路，拜登总统也将参加这次峰会。

The two governments see high-level diplomacy as a potential anchor in a yearslong period of rising tensions. Under Mr. Xi, who took power in 2012, China has taken assertive actions in territories around it and has sought to wield greater economic and diplomatic influence, sometimes in a coercive manner, around the globe. Mr. Biden has continued the policy direction of the Trump administration and seeks to compete with China using military, economic, diplomatic, technological and intelligence means.