The White House described the two days of talks between US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and China’s top diplomat as meaningful and productive, indicating that both parties are making an effort to reduce tensions that have caused a breakdown in even the most basic communication.
The discussions between Sullivan and Wang Yi on May 10–11 in Vienna covered a range of subjects, according to a statement from the White House, including cross-Strait concerns, global and regional security issues, and Russia’s conflict with Ukraine.
US Concern about China
A senior administration official told reporters on Thursday that Sullivan reiterated American concerns about China potentially providing military aid to Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine and focused on how to handle tensions over Taiwan.
The White House described the discussions as part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage competition, while China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency described the meeting as candid, in-depth, substantive, and constructive, with a goal of removing the hurdles to the bilateral relations.
Although it’s unclear who started the conversations between Wang and Sullivan, the US has recently started a campaign of pressuring China for meetings at every level, all the way up to Xi and Biden.
The discussion paved the way for a potential phone contact between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which Chinese authorities have been reluctant to arrange for several weeks.
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National Security Concerns And Seeking To Assuage Allied Nations
A phone contact between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which Beijing had refused for weeks, may now be possible thanks to the dialogue.
Although it is unclear who started the conversations between Wang and Sullivan, the US has been pressing China for discussions at all levels, from the most junior to Xi and Biden, in recent weeks.
Along with that planning, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Sullivan have been promoting a more general message that the US only wants to handle any potential national security problems and not terminate economic relations.
Furthermore, Sullivan reiterated worries from the White House regarding Beijing’s lack of constructive engagement in using its influence.
According to the administration official, Sullivan also reiterated White House worries about Beijing’s lack of constructive engagement in using its power to pressure Russia to end its invasion of Ukraine and asked China to do more to curb the flow of illicit drugs.
China has come under pressure, particularly from the US, to reduce the manufacturing of the chemicals needed to create the precursors of fentanyl.
Following the visit of Nancy Pelosi, who was the House Speaker at the time, to Taiwan, a democracy, tensions between the nations grew last year.
That trip—the first by a sitting House speaker since Newt Gingrich in 1997—prompted China, which asserts sovereignty over the island, to begin military drills near Taiwan.
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