E-Paper
US State Dept No. 2 set to visit China amid bilateral tensions
Sherman will meet China’s state councillor and foreign minister Wang Yi and other officials in Tianjin on July 25-26, the US state department announced on Wednesday.
US deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman will become the highest level Biden administration official to visit China when she lands there this weekend amid rising tensions between the two countries.
Sherman will meet China’s state councillor and foreign minister Wang Yi and other officials in Tianjin on July 25-26, the US state department announced on Wednesday.
“These discussions are part of ongoing US efforts to hold candid exchanges with PRC officials to advance US interests and values, and to responsibly manage the relationship,” the state department said.
Sherman is America’s No. 2 diplomat. The highest level in-person interaction so far between the two governments took place in Alaska in March, when secretary of state Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with Chinese counterparts.
The Alaska meet was marked by several testy exchanges.
Trump’s close friend and political ally arrested
Authorities have arrested Tom Barrack, a close friend and ally of former president Donald Trump, for allegedly acting on behalf of the UAE government without registering as a foreign agent.
Barrack, 74, was charged with obstruction of justice for lying to federal agents in 2019 about his association with the foreign government. Matthew Grimes, an associate of Barrack, was also arrested. A third person, UAE citizen Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi, is at large.
