Blinken had been set to travel to China in February but canceled the trip after the United States detected and later shot down what it said was a Chinese espionage balloon over US soil.
But both countries gave a positive assessment of a recent visit to Beijing by senior US officials, which included Daniel Kritenbrink, the top US diplomat for East Asia who also arranged Blinken's previously planned trip.
A US official said on condition of anonymity that Blinken was expected to reschedule his visit to China in the coming weeks but stressed that no date had been set.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the recent talks in Beijing touched on "the potential for future visits" and were "very useful."
"I think you'll see us speak to future visits here in the near future," he told reporters.
State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said that Kritenbrink and senior White House official Sarah Beran had "candid and productive discussions" in China, but regarding Blinken's trip said only, "We look forward to rescheduling that visit when conditions allow."
"Our viewpoint is that there is no substitute for in-person meetings or engagements, whether they be in Washington or Beijing, to carry forward our discussion," Patel told reporters.
Tensions have soared in recent years between the world's two largest economies on a host of issues including trade and security, with the United States voicing concern that China is moving ahead on preparations to seize Taiwan, the self-governing democracy claimed by Beijing.
Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping agreed to work to avoid miscalculations when they held extensive talks in Bali in November, but tensions soon flared anew over the balloon.
China, Russia conduct air patrol over Sea of Japan, East China Sea
Beijing (AFP) June 6, 2023 -
China and Russia conducted joint air force patrols over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea on Tuesday, as South Korea said it had deployed fighter jets in response to warplanes near its airspace.
Beijing and Moscow "staged the sixth joint aerial patrol in accordance with an annual military cooperation plan between China and Russia", the Chinese defence ministry said in a statement.
The statement gave no further details of the manoeuvres, which took place over waters bordering Japan, the Korean peninsula and Taiwan.
South Korea said four Russian and four Chinese military aircraft had entered its air defence identification zone (ADIZ) around lunchtime on Tuesday, prompting it to scramble fighter planes.
An ADIZ is an area wider than a country's airspace in which it tries to control aircraft for security reasons, but the concept is not defined in any international treaty.
The South Korean military "identified the Chinese and Russian jets before their entry into the air identification zone", Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
"We deployed air force fighters to conduct tactical steps in preparation in case of an emergency," it added.
The eight foreign jets did not violate Seoul's airspace, the JCS said.
The incident comes after the defence ministers of South Korea, Japan and the United States on Saturday agreed to set up real-time data sharing on North Korean missile launches by the end of the year.
Asked about the Russia-China air patrols, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said that the United States was committed to working with Japan and South Korea towards "a free and open Indo-Pacific" and that the allies were mindful of any actions "that can be interpreted as destabilising or reckless".
- Close allies -
South Korea has supported Western sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine and has sent humanitarian aid to Kyiv.
But it is bound by its own regulations prohibiting the supply of lethal aid to countries in conflict.
China says it is a neutral party in the Ukraine war. It has been criticised by Western countries for refusing to condemn Moscow and for its close strategic partnership with Russia.
In February, Beijing released a paper calling for a "political settlement" to the conflict, which Western countries warned could enable Russia to hold much of the territory it has seized in Ukraine.
During a March summit in Moscow, Chinese leader Xi Jinping invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit Beijing and the two leaders declared that ties were "entering a new era".
Analysts say China holds the upper hand in the relationship with Russia, and that its sway is growing as Moscow's international isolation deepens.
Beijing and Moscow were Cold War allies with a tempestuous relationship but in recent years have drawn closer, especially in the economic and military realms.
Both countries have touted what they call a "no-limits" partnership and played up what they frame as a close friendship between Xi and Putin.
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