of the highest profile visit to china by a us official since president biden took office. it s been five years since a secretary of state has met with chinese counterparts, and us officials say expectations for the meeting are low. tensions have been steadily growing between the countries. joining me now to discuss the trip is jacob stokes, senior fellow for the indo pacific security program at the centerfor a new american security and former acting special advisorfor asia policy to then vice presidentjoe biden. thank you so much for being with us on bbc news. how crucial do you think these talks are? i crucial do you think these talks are? crucial do you think these talks are? i think this is an important talks are? i think this is an important trip. talks are? i think this is an important trip. as - talks are? i think this is an important trip. as you - talks are? i think this is an | important trip. as you said, the secretary of state from the united states has not been to chin
with trump having an eye on 202a? i think the view in beijing was that trump was very hawkish but he was not always effective at improving us strengths, specifically the strength of us democracy and marshalling a global coalition to counterbalance china. the biden administration has been much more effective at that so there s kind of up in the air about which leader china would prefer, but my sense is they would probably prefer trump, but certainly they are trying to watch what the trajectory of american policies is and china, as you said, will play a pretty big part in the foreign policy discussions. a really interesting analysis there from jacob stokes, a senior fellow for at the centerfor a new american security. he also has a focus on china and us foreign policy. thank you so much, jacob. to southern ukraine, where authorities are reporting