High-level US and Chinese officials discussed potential talks between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in the months ahead as the two countries press ahead on stabilizing communication in their increasingly contentious relationship. <\/p>\n
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan is wrapping up three days of talks with counterparts in Beijing, where he met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Central Military Commission vice chairman Gen. Zhang Youxia \u2013 the first meeting between a US official and Chinese military figure in that role since 2018. <\/p>\n
The meetings follow efforts over the past year from both sides to repair fractured lines of communication, even as US-China relations remain fraught over a host of frictions including Beijing\u2019s aggressions in the South China Sea and toward Taiwan, and US trade controls targeting China. <\/p>\n
Beijing has also been carefully watching the upcoming US elections, where a change of administration in January could impact the trajectory of the relationship between the world\u2019s two largest economies. <\/p>\n
Readouts from both sides suggested that some sort of call or talks between Biden and Xi in the coming weeks could be on the cards even as the US president knows he will no longer be in the White House next year whoever wins the election. <\/p>\n
In Sullivan\u2019s meetings with Wang, the two sides \u201cwelcomed ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication, including planning for a leader-level call in the coming weeks,\u201d a White House readout following meetings Tuesday and Wednesday said. <\/p>\n
A Chinese Foreign Ministry readout said they discussed a \u201cnew round of interaction between the two heads of state.\u201d <\/p>\n
Expectations for significant progress on sticking points in the relationship during this meeting were low, especially as the US elections loom. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor both sides, they have no strong motivation to push aggressively \u2026 because of the election, both are in a \u2018wait and see\u2019 mode\u201d while looking to maintain current relations without incident, said Liu Dongshu, an assistant professor at the City University of Hong Kong. <\/p>\n
Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to maintain a level of continuity with Biden\u2019s China policy, while Republican candidate Donald Trump had a combative and mercurial relationship with China as president and has threatened to broadly expand American tariffs on Chinese imports if re-elected. <\/p>\n
Wang and Sullivan also discussed plans to hold a call between their respective military theater commanders, both sides said. <\/p>\n
Such talks \u2013 part of a broader resumption of regular military discussions following a meeting between Biden and Xi in November \u2013 would involve commanders leading American troops in the Indo-Pacific and those leading Chinese strategy in the Southern and Eastern theater. <\/p>\n
Wang and Sullivan\u2019s discussion of military communication comes amid especially heightened tensions in the South China Sea, where Chinese and Philippine ships have been engaged in a series of violent, but non-lethal confrontations in recent months. <\/p>\n
Commander of US Indo-Pacific Command Adm. Samuel Paparo earlier this week suggested the US could escort Philippine ships through the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety despite a major international ruling to the contrary. <\/p>\n
In his meeting Thursday with Zhang, a senior figure in China\u2019s powerful Central Military Commission, Sullivan stressed \u201cUS commitment to freedom of navigation in the South China Sea\u201d and \u201cthe importance of cross-Strait peace and stability,\u201d in reference to Taiwan, according to a White House readout. <\/p>\n
Sullivan also raised cyberspace, efforts to reach a ceasefire in the war in Gaza, and American concerns about what the US says is China\u2019s support for Russia\u2019s defense industrial base as it wages war on Ukraine. <\/p>\n
In introductory remarks ahead of the meeting, which took place at Chinese military headquarters in Beijing, Sullivan acknowledged how \u201crare\u201d it was to have such exchanges. <\/p>\n
\u201cGiven the state of the world and the need for us to responsibly manage US-China relations, I think it\u2019s a very important meeting,\u201d he told Zhang. <\/p>\n
Zhang called on the United States to \u201ccorrect its strategic understanding of China, return to a rational and pragmatic policy toward China, (and) earnestly respect China\u2019s core interests,\u201d citing Taiwan as the \u201ccore of China\u2019s core interests,\u201d according to a readout published in Chinese state media. <\/p>\n
The general also called for both sides to \u201cmaintain stability in the military and security field.\u201d <\/p>\n
Prior to those talks, Sullivan held two-days of engagements with Wang, marking the fifth time that the two officials have met over the past year and a half in multiple locations, including their last meeting in January in Bangkok. <\/p>\n
The two agreed to advance areas of cooperation, such as counternarcotics and AI safety and risk \u2013 but, as expected, made little leeway on major frictions in the relationship. <\/p>\n
Wang stressed the importance of US-China coexistence, while calling on the US to stop arming Taiwan and support China\u2019s \u201creunification\u201d with the island \u2013 a self-ruling democracy claimed by Beijing. <\/p>\n
The top Chinese diplomat also called on the US to \u201cstop suppressing China in the fields of economy, trade, and science and technology,\u201d calling American concerns about China\u2019s manufacturing overcapacity \u201can excuse for protectionism.\u201d <\/p>\n
Sullivan said the US would \u201ccontinue to take necessary actions to prevent advanced US technologies from being used to undermine our national security\u201d and expressed concern about China\u2019s \u201cunfair trade policies.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Biden administration earlier this year announced it would maintain a set of sweeping import tariffs in place on Chinese goods \u2014 with significant increases on categories like semiconductors and electric vehicles expected to be implemented soon. It has also instated controls on Chinese access to American high-tech that could have dual-use civilian and military purposes. <\/p>\n
China has responded by limiting the export of certain materials key to produce high-tech goods. <\/p>\n
The US has also included Chinese entities in tranches of sanctions targeting Russia\u2019s war machine, including a set released Friday. US officials have repeatedly warned that China\u2019s exports of dual-use goods to Russia were supporting its defense industry and enabling Moscow\u2019s war in Ukraine \u2013 a charge Beijing denies. <\/p>\n
Sullivan\u2019s visit comes ahead of a series of high-profile multilateral summits in the coming months that could provide a platform for Biden and Xi to meet again in what would be the twilight of Biden\u2019s presidency. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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