The meetings took place on the sidelines of the ongoing 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
On Monday, Chinese Vice President Han Zheng met separately with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
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Han told Guterres that today's world is facing accelerated changes never seen in a century, with several unstable and uncertain factors intertwined. In this regard, the diplomat noted that the more complex and gloomy the international situation is, the more necessary it is to defend true multilateralism and the more the world needs a strong UN.
Han added that the vision of building a community of humanity's shared future, the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, are highly aligned with the ideals and objectives of the UN and have been widely recognized and actively supported by the international community.
Furthermore, he said that China, as always, will be a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development and an advocate of international order, and will support the UN to play a central role in international affairs.
The UN Secretary-General thanked China for its strong support for the UN cause and praised the important initiatives proposed by the Chinese president.
Chinese Vice President Han Zheng met respectively with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Monday. Check out the highlights! #UNGA78 pic.twitter.com/RUDSeqBBQ0
— Chinese Consulate General in New York (@ChinaCG_NYC) September 19, 2023
At the meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Han said that a healthy and stable China-U.S. relationship is good not only for China's future, but also for the two countries and the world.
Han said that China's development is an opportunity rather than a challenge, a gain rather than a risk for the U.S. noting that two sides can well contribute to each other's progress and achieve common prosperity.
In addition, he pointed out that China maintains consistency and stability in its policy toward the U.S., following the three principles proposed by President Xi Jinping, namely mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, in considering and managing the nexus between the two countries.
Han expressed as well the hope that the U.S. will work with China to carry forward the important consensus reached by the two heads of state in Bali, Indonesia. He noted that both sides should take practical steps, create favorable conditions and do more to enhance understanding, mutual trust and mutually beneficial cooperation, to return China-U.S. relations to a healthy and stable track and bring benefits to the two countries and the rest of the world.
For his part, Blinken said the U.S. seeks to strengthen communication with China, manage differences and promote cooperation.
As reported by the U.S. State Department in a statement after the meeting, the talks consisted of "frank and constructive discussion," with both sides addressing issues such as the conflict in Ukraine, North Korea and the Taiwan Strait. They agreed to keep the lines of communication open, the department said.