Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger visited Beijing Tuesday to meet with Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu, the defense ministry announced. 

The surprise visit marks the veteran diplomat’s first trip to Beijing since before the COVID-19 pandemic, and comes as tensions rise between the U.S. and China amid discussions of sanctions.

Li said in a statement that U.S.-China relations are at the “lowest point since the establishment of diplomatic relations” because “some people in the United States did not meet China halfway.”

“The path of peaceful development that China is pursuing is a blessing for the world, not a disaster for the world,” the statement reads. “The US should have a correct strategic judgment. The future of our world will be better only when emerging countries and developed countries live in peace and develop together.”

Kissinger, who served under the Nixon administration, was a key envoy in establishing diplomatic relations with China in the early 1970s. The release described him as a “friend of China.”

Li refused to sit down with his American counterpart, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, at a scheduled diplomatic summit in Singapore last month because he is subject to U.S. sanctions. The Chinese government said removing those sanctions would be a prerequisite to any diplomatic talks.

“The U.S. side knows the reason for difficulties in its military-to-military relations with China,” spokesperson Liu Pengyu said last month. 

“It actually imposed unilateral sanctions on China,” Liu added. “Such obstacles should be removed before any exchange and cooperation could take place between the two countries.”

Kissinger has repeatedly warned of “catastrophic” consequences of a war between the U.S. and China, and urged further cooperation, the statement reads.

“The United States and China should eliminate misunderstandings, coexist peacefully and avoid confrontation,” Kissinger said, according to the statement.

“History and practice have continuously proved that neither the United States nor China can afford to treat the other as an adversary,” he added. “If the two countries go to war, it will not lead to any meaningful results for the two peoples.”

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the Biden administration was aware Kissinger was traveling to China and that Chinese officials brought it up with Secretary of State Antony Blinken while he was in Beijing last month.

But Miller stressed that Kissinger went to China as a private citizen.

“I will say he was there under his own volition, not acting on behalf of the United States government. And I don’t have any further updates on this trip,” he said during the department press briefing.

The U.S. and China have traded sanctions in recent months, in part due to China’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Li was sanctioned in 2018 for purchasing military materials from Russia, and a number of Chinese individuals were sanctioned this year due to their involvement in the fentanyl trade.

In turn, China has sanctioned U.S. defense contractors due to their relationships with Taiwan, and even the Reagan Presidential Library over hosting the Taiwanese president earlier this year.

China has also levied sanctions on rare metals used in computer chip production last month, dealing a blow to U.S. tech production.

Laura Kelly contributed to this report, which was updated at 2:18 p.m.