The United States believes maintaining high-level engagement with China is important even after the country removed Foreign Minister Qin Gang from his post without giving a reason, officials said Tuesday.
"It does not change anything," White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said, while noting that as the removal is an internal matter for China, the United States is not in a position to say much about it.
She said at a press briefing that the United States is "committed to deepening channels of communication" with China to avert any misunderstanding or miscalculation.
Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesman of the State Department, indicated that the United States was not informed by China in advance of the change in its diplomatic lineup, but also stressed that Washington's basic policy will not be affected by the sudden shakeup.
"We continue to think it's incredibly important that we maintain open lines of communications" with China to manage bilateral relations "responsibly, which is something that the international community expects from us," he separately told the press.
The removal of Qin following a mysterious one-month absence from public duties was announced by China's state-run media Tuesday. The news came as senior U.S. and Chinese officials have resumed a series of meetings in recent months in an attempt to defuse tensions.
Qin was replaced by his predecessor Wang Yi, who served in the post from 2013 to 2022, before becoming the head of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee Foreign Affairs Commission Office, a position regarded as the country's top diplomat.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing in mid-June, meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and senior officials in a series of talks. Blinken, who became the first U.S. secretary of state to visit China since 2018, agreed with them to keep up dialogue and invited Qin to Washington to advance discussions.
Since the visit, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and climate envoy John Kerry have also visited Beijing for talks with high-ranking Chinese officials, with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo planning to do the same in the near future.
The increased exchanges are taking place as the two countries explore a summit between President Joe Biden and Xi later this year, possibly on the sidelines of an international conference, despite numerous disagreements over issues ranging from Taiwan's status and Russia's war against Ukraine to trade and human rights.
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