Did China Humiliate Antony Blinken? Experts Weigh In

After Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped his visit to China on Friday, discussions started to circulate on social media alleging the country had snubbed America’s top diplomat by not giving him a send-off befitting his status.

“Humiliation: Blinken departed China, and only the U.S. ambassador said farewell at the airport,” read one such post on X (formerly Twitter) that had racked up nearly 30,000 views by Saturday afternoon.

The now-deleted post shared a similar comment by another netizen—”U.S. Secretary of State Blinken left Beijing to return home this evening, but we did not send anyone to send him off.”

Accompanying this statement was a photo with only two officials in the frame—Blinken and Ambassador Nicholas Burns exchanging parting words on the tarmac.

As the rumor continued to spread on Saturday, Yang Liu, a reporter for China’s Xinhua news agency, put the issue to rest, sharing in an X post a photo of Blinken shaking hands with senior diplomat Yang Tao just before his departure.

Ryan Hass, an Asia scholar at Washington, D.C.-based think tank the Brookings Institution, pointed out that during the three-day visit, Blinken had held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, raised issues of concern to the U.S., and met with Chinese President Xi Jinpin.

“Time will tell whether these efforts yield results. One thing nobody in the U.S. government will spend time thinking about is who stood on tarmac when he arrived/left,” Hass wrote on X.

The U.S. State Department declined to discuss the matter when reached for comment.

“China welcomed and valued U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to China at the invitation of Foreign Minister Wang Yi,” the Chinese embassy in the U.S. told Newsweek. “Wang held talks with Blinken for five and a half hours. They had extensive and in-depth exchange of views on the bilateral relations and international and regional issues.”

“The Chinese side followed diplomatic practice and the principle of reciprocity in making relevant arrangements for the visit,” the mission added, pointing out Wang had “made China’s position clear” on issues Beijing views as its key concerns, including Taiwan, trade, the South China Sea, and Washington’s strategy in the Indo-Pacific.

During his stay, Blinken pressed officials over Chinese trade deemed to be supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine, China’s expansive activities in the South China Sea, and the flow of fentanyl precursors into North America, among other issues.