US-China talks start with warnings about misunderstandings and miscalculations

The United States and China butted heads over a number of contentious bilateral, regional and global issues as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Friday with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and both men warned of the dangers of misunderstandings and miscalculations.

The meeting, on the final day of Blinken’s second visit to China in the past year, came as talks between the countries have expanded in recent months even as differences have grown and become more serious, raising concerns about the potential for conflict between the world’s two largest economies.

Blinken and Wang each underscored the importance of keeping lines of communication open but they also lamented persistent and deepening divisions that threaten global security. Those divisions were highlighted earlier this week when U.S. President Joe Biden signed a massive foreign aid bill that contains several elements that the Chinese see as problematic.