China’s top diplomat meets US national security advisor in Malta for bilateral talks

Asia-Pacific, News, US September 19, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with China’s Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Malta on September 17, 2023. During the four-hour-long meeting, top officials from the world’s largest economies vowed to stabilize relations between Beijing and Washington.

According to a readout released by the White House, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with Chinese Communist Party Politburo Member, Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The meeting took place in the Mediterranean island nation of Malta.

The readout said that the two sides had “candid, substantive, and constructive discussions, building on the engagements between President Biden and President Xi in Bali, Indonesia in November 2022.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry Wang said the two sides agreed to continue high-level communication on several fronts, including consultations on Asia-Pacific affairs, maritime affairs, and foreign policy.

The two officials discussed U.S.-China relations against the backdrop of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. The U.S. National Security Advisor stressed that China should not try to aid Moscow in its war against Ukraine.

US and China flags — *^{United States and China flags. (Image Credit: U.S. DoD)}*

Jake Sullivan was the first U.S. official to accuse China of planning to send weapons to Russia. According to the U.S. intelligence assessments, Beijing had been considering sending weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine, a charge Beijing has denied on several occasions.

White House officials said that Sullivan reiterated the U.S.’s concerns about recent Chinese military actions around Taiwan and other activities in the region. He said that any disputes or conflicts must be resolved peacefully.

Opening channels of communication

Several observers and analysts believe that the meeting between the two high-level officials from China and the U.S. indicates a possible Xi-Biden meeting in November this year. The U.S. President Biden will host world leaders for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco this year. China’s President Xi Jinping is expected to visit the U.S. for the summit.

Biden this month expressed disappointment that Xi skipped a summit of Group of 20 leaders in India, but said he would “get to see him.” Biden and Xi last met in November 2022 on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali.

The last few months have seen signs of deepening relations between two of the biggest economies on issues ranging from trade to climate change. Economic relations between China and the U.S. gradually froze after Washington imposed a lot of economic restrictions on China, especially during the Trump era.

*^{Chinese President Xi Jinping with U.S. President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G20 Summit. (Image Credit: Twitter)}*

The Biden administration followed the same trend. However, due to increasing internal pressure from U.S. enterprises, Washington is easing up relations with China by opening channels of communication after a long patch of rocky relations.

Last month, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo visited Beijing to become the fourth high-level U.S. official to visit China since June 2023. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry have also visited Beijing in the last few months despite the increasing tensions.