Qin implicitly referenced the balloon incident by urging the Biden administration to “handle unexpected eventualities calmly, professionally and rationally.”

Blinken stressed the need for the two countries to reduce the potential for “misperception and miscalculation” and the Biden administration’s desire to “explore cooperation on shared transnational issues” where possible,” according to a State Department readout of the meeting. However, neither side signaled whether Blinken will get a meeting on Monday with Chinese paramount leader Xi Jinping.

Xi met last week with visiting Microsoft founder Bill Gates, suggesting that a failure to organize a Xi-Blinken meeting will constitute a deliberate snub by Chinese authorities.

The ambiguity of Blinken’s readout indicates little substantive progress on his agenda items that include concerns over rising tensions over Taiwan, unjustly jailed U.S. citizens in China and Beijing’s alignment with Russia’s war on Ukraine. Qin made no mention of arbitrarily detained Americans in China or the war in Ukraine, but reiterated his “stern position” on Taiwan and urged the U.S. “to put into practice its commitment not to support ‘Taiwan independence.’”