Senior US, Chinese diplomats hold 'candid' talks to avoid escalation of tensions

TAIPEI: Senior diplomats from China and the United States held “candid and productive” talks in Beijing and agreed to keep open lines of communication to avoid tensions from spiraling into conflict, officials said Tuesday.
On Monday, Daniel Kritenbrink, assistant US secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, was the most senior US official confirmed to have visited China since tensions between Washington and Beijing soared with the shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon over…