WASHINGTON (AFP, XINHUA) - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet on Sunday (Oct 31) in Rome with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the State Department said, in only their second face to face session amid acute tensions between the two powers.

       The meeting in Rome, where both diplomats were attending the Group of 20 summit, is listed on Mr Blinken's public schedule for Sunday.

       It will be the first between Mr Blinken and Mr Wang since a stormy session in Alaska back in March during which the Chinese delegation berated the American side as TV cameras rolled.

       Tensions are high between the world's two biggest economies on a plethora of fronts, including trade, human rights, Taiwan and the Covid-19 pandemic.

       Earlier this week, Washington ordered China Telecom Americas to discontinue its services within 60 days - ending nearly two decades of operations in the country and piling further strain on relations between the two countries.

       US President Joe Biden has pressed ahead with a hardline trade policy against Beijing broadly in line with that of his predecessor Donald Trump, whose bombastic approach sent tensions soaring.

       Tensions have also soared over Taiwan in recent months.

       China claims the self-governing, US-allied island as its own, and vows it will retake it one day - by force if necessary.

       Earlier this month, Washington confirmed that a small number of US troops are on the island to help with training.

       On Tuesday, Mr Blinken called for Taiwan to be allowed greater involvement in United Nations agencies, though Beijing insisted it has no place on the world's diplomatic stage.

       Mr Biden has also rebuked Beijing over its sabre-rattling on Taiwan.

       He said this month that the US was ready to defend the island from a Chinese invasion - though the White House quickly walked back those comments amid warnings from Beijing, continuing a strategy of ambiguity on whether it would intervene militarily if China attacked.

       On Friday, China's permanent representative to the UN said there is only one China in the world, in his remarks to the media.

       Mr Zhang Jun added that the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legitimate government representing the whole of China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory.

       A total of 180 countries, including the US, have established diplomatic relations with China on the basis of commitment to the one-China principle, he noted.

       The one-China principle is a consensus of the international community and a widely recognised norm of international relations, which allows no challenge or distortion, Mr Zhang said.

       He also pointed out that the UN is an inter-governmental organisation composed of sovereign states, and UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 has solved once and for all the issue of China's representation in the UN in political, legal and procedural terms. Hence, Taiwan is not not qualified to join the UN, he said.

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