As they held rare meetings on the Indonesian island of Bali, top diplomats from the United States and China expressed cautious optimism so that tensions would not spiral out of hand.

Neither side expected substantial breakthroughs between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, but the two powers have toned down their rhetoric and increased cooperation at a time when the West's attention is focused on the Russian military operation in Ukraine.  

"In a relationship as complex and consequential as the one between the United States and China, there is a lot to talk about," Blinken stated when he began negotiations at a resort hotel in Bali, where the two had attended a Group of 20 meetings the day before. "We very much look forward to a productive and constructive conversation," Blinken said.

President Xi Jinping, according to Wang, believes in cooperation, as well as "mutual respect", between the world's two major economic powers, and that "regular exchanges" between them are required.

"We do need to work together to ensure that this relationship will continue to move forward along the right track," Wang said in front of US and Chinese flags before a day of talks that will include a working lunch.

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The top US diplomat for East Asia, Daniel Kritenbrink, previously stated that Blinken will seek "guardrails" in the US-China competition and will do "everything possible to ensure that we prevent any miscalculation that could lead inadvertently to conflict."

It's Blinken and Wang's first face-to-face meeting since October. They will be preparing for virtual talks between Xi and President Joe Biden in the coming weeks.

After a long silence during the pandemic, the two countries' defense, finance, and national security chiefs, as well as their senior military commanders, have all spoken out since last month.

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The Global Times wrote that the growing diplomacy "underscored the two sides' consensus on avoiding escalating confrontation."

China, Ukraine, and the US

US attitudes toward China have hardened in recent years, and Biden has essentially maintained the substance of his predecessor Donald Trump's harsh strategy of recognizing Beijing as the United States' preeminent global adversary.

Despite his criticism, Blinken made it clear in a recent address that the US was not seeking a new "Cold War".

The Biden administration is widely expected to eliminate some of Trump's tariffs on Chinese imports shortly, which might help to alleviate the country's skyrocketing inflation, which has become a major political concern.

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US officials have been cautiously optimistic about China's stance on Ukraine, criticizing its rhetorical support for Russia, although China has repeatedly assured the European Union that it would seek peace in Ukraine.

Premier Li Keqiang told EU leaders that Beijing would push for peace in its "own way", while President Xi Jinping expressed hope that the EU would treat China "independently", referring to Europe's close ties with the US.

The United States is spearheading efforts to isolate Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who diplomats say stormed out of the meeting in response to Western criticism.

Lavrov slammed the West's "frenzied" condemnation of the Ukraine war at a G20 conference on Friday, accusing Russia's adversaries of sabotaging a chance to address global economic challenges.

At the summit, host Indonesia encouraged the G20 to help stop the crisis in Ukraine, which put some of Russia's harshest opponents in the same room with Moscow's top diplomat. "Aggressors', 'invaders', 'occupiers' - we heard a lot of things today," Lavrov told reporters.

Wang did not offer "any full-throated endorsement or any sort of signal that China and Russia have this kind of pact," the official said on condition of anonymity.