US-China talks start with warnings about misunderstandings and miscalculations

China’s foreign minister Wang Yi, right, gestures to US secretary of state Antony Blinken at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China (Mark Schiefelbein, Pool/AP)

The United States and China butted heads over a number of contentious bilateral, regional and global issues as US secretary of state Antony Blinken met on 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 Mr 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.