BEIJING, June 16. /TASS/. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s upcoming visit to China does not mean that there will be a thaw in relations between Beijing and Washington, Qian Feng, a senior researcher at the Taihe Institute think tank, told TASS on Friday.

"Blinken’s visit to Beijing is tentatively due to begin on June 18. It will be the first visit to China by the US' highest-ranking diplomat since October 2018," he said. "Today, it is impossible to return China-US relations to their previous state. However, does this mean that China and the United States won’t be able to cooperate? Given the current situation in the world, such cooperation does not have infinite potential but a lack of interaction between China and the US is also absolutely unimaginable," Qian added.

The expert pointed out that Washington kept highlighting its strategic rivalry with Beijing. "This has led to a difficult and complicated situation in China-US relations, which has never been seen before, and extraordinary risks have emerged," he stressed.

The Chinese political scientist noted that although "the era of cooperation between the leading powers" was over, intensive dialogue remained an integral part of interaction. "There are signs that China-US relations are out of the deep freeze. However, the US needs to change the starting point in order to advance strategic dialogue so that relations can start moving towards strengthening and truly thawing," the expert said. According to Qian, to improve the situation, Washington should take a more realistic stance towards the rest of the world, including China.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken intends to make a visit to China on June 18-19. The trip, initially scheduled for February, was postponed due to an incident involving a Chinese air balloon shot down by a missile in US airspace. Beijing argues that it was a weather balloon but the Washington administration insists that it was being used to collect sensitive information.