United States National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s Tuesday meeting with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi in Beijing is set to revolve around topics such as Taiwan, Ukraine, the South China Sea, tariffs, and trade sanctions. Over three days of dialogues, they will aim to lessen strains in the relationship between the two global superpowers and enhance partnership on issues like artificial intelligence and drug enforcement, along with improving military communication.
The broader goals of this encounter, the first by a US national security advisor since Susan Rice’s 2016 visit during Barack Obama’s term, will remain the deepening of relationships. Wang Yi is not simply China’s foreign minister, but also a member of the Communist Party’s leadership body, the politburo. His and Sullivan’s numerous intensive meetings symbolise this aim.
In pre-meeting briefings, both Beijing and Washington officials emphasised that the bilateral relationship’s fundamental character would not be modified by this week’s dialogues. Yang Tao, the Chinese foreign ministry’s North American and Oceanian affairs department leader, viewed this as an opportunity to evaluate progress made since the agreements between Xi Jinping and Joe Biden last November in San Francisco.
Yang Tao, as reported by Xinhua news agency, has clearly outlined China’s approach – to earnestly express major worries, outline its firm stance, and lay out significant demands regarding the Taiwan issue, development rights, and China’s strategic safety.
Like his US counterparts, he points out the unfair actions taken by the United States against China in areas such as tariffs, export controls, investment assessments, and one-sided sanctions, which have drastically affected China’s legitimate rights and interests. China’s call is for the US to stop using economic and trade matters for political and security reasons.
Recently, the US commerce department added 105 Chinese and Russian entities to an export control list on Friday. The move, linked to allegations of Chinese imports bolstering Russia’s defence production cycle, has been denounced by China who maintains neutrality in the Ukraine conflict but offers economic and diplomatic support to Moscow. China views the sanctions as a violation of international trade norms, having a destabilising effect on global supply chains.
A high-ranking White House representative hinted that the upcoming meeting with Beijing will likely replicate the communication style utilised in prior discussions with Sullivan and Wang in Vienna, Malta, and Bangkok over the past one-and-a-half-years. These dialogues, which spanned over two days and usually lasted between 10 to 12 hours, dealt with both bilateral and global matters, including Taiwan.
The official reiterated that established diplomatic interactions and communication channels with the People’s Republic of China do not suggest alterations to American policy. The official described the interaction as an intense competition, maintaining that the US is intent on investing, fortifying alliances, and implementing logical measures related to technology and national security. The official also added that despite this competitiveness, the goal is to manage it in a responsible manner to avoid leading to conflict.
The expectation for a healthier US-China relationship following President Biden’s succession from Donald Trump in 2021 experienced a recoil the subsequent year following former House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. In retaliation, Beijing carried out military drills which included launching a ballistic missile over the autonomously ruled island.
Following a meeting last November between the two leaders, strategic dialogue was reinstated, and cooperation was achieved on some bilateral matters.
The White House official highlighted the aims of these discussions are mostly to remove any misunderstanding and prevent any competition from turning into a conflict. He stated: “We’re tackling these challenging subjects, ensuring there are no misconceptions and continuing making progress on matters we’ve managed to work on collectively.”