Blinken to meet businesses in Shanghai as he kicks off a tough China trip

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet business leaders in Shanghai on Thursday as ties between Washington and Beijing stabilise, pushing to resolve a raft of issues threatening the newly gained equilibrium between the rivals. Blinken's visit is the latest high-level contact between the two nations that, along with working groups on issues from global trade to military communication, have tempered the public acrimony that drove relations to historic lows early last year. But Washington and Beijing have made little headway on curbing China's supply of chemicals used to make fentanyl, the South China Sea remains a flashpoint, and strains are growing over China's backing of Russia in its war in Ukraine.