US, China seek to calm rising tensions on many fronts

By MATTHEW LEE
AP Diplomatic Writer

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met his Chinese counterpart in a new effort to rein in or at least manage rampant hostility that has come to define recent relations between Washington and Beijing. Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held their first face-to-face talks since October in the Indonesian resort of Bali on Saturday to discuss a range of contentious issues from tariffs and trade and human rights to Taiwan and disputes in the South China Sea. U.S. officials said ahead of time they don’t expect any breakthroughs. But they are hopeful the conversation can help keep lines of communications open and create “guardrails” to guide the world’s two largest economies as they navigate increasingly complex and potentially explosive matters.