US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has meet with a top Chinese defence official as the two countries try to strengthen communication to prevent differences over Taiwan and the South China Sea from spiralling into conflict.
The meeting on Thursday came one day after the White House said that a phone conversation would be arranged between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden in the coming weeks.
“Your request to meet with me shows the value you attach to military security and the relationship between our militaries,” Zhang Youxia, the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, told Sullivan in opening remarks.
Sullivan noted that “it is rare we have the opportunity to have this kind of exchange” and underlined “the need for us to responsibly manage the US-China relationship.”
Sullivan is on the final day of a three-day trip to China, his first as national security adviser and one aimed at keeping high-level communications open and stabilising bilateral relations to avoid conflict.
His main talks were over the last one and a half days with Wang Yi, the foreign minister and the ruling Communist Party’s top foreign policy official.
The White House statement said both sides would keep lines of communication open, including planning for a “leader-level call” in the coming weeks. There was no indication whether the two leaders might meet in person before Biden leaves the Oval Office.
Sullivan, making the first such trip by someone in his role since 2016, earlier met Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi met in Beijing that were meant to smooth over relations.
But after their meeting, state media reported that Wang cautioned Washington against supporting the Philippines in the South China Sea.
“The United States must not use bilateral treaties as an excuse to undermine China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, nor should it support or condone the Philippines’ actions of infringement,” Wang told Sullivan, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Sullivan doubled down on Washington’s pledges to defend its regional partners.
“Mr Sullivan reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to defending its Indo-Pacific allies,” the White House said in a readout of their meeting.
Sullivan also “expressed concern about the PRC’ s destabilising actions against lawful Philippine maritime operations in the South China Sea”, it said, using an acronym for the People’s Republic of China.
According to CCTV, Wang emphasised to Sullivan that “China is firmly committed to safeguarding its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights over the South China Sea islands”.
Tokyo meanwhile accused Beijing of violating its airspace on Monday, with a two-minute incursion by a surveillance aircraft off the Danjo Islands in the East China Sea.
It said the first confirmed incursion by a Chinese military aircraft into its airspace was a “serious violation” of its sovereignty and accused Beijing of becoming “increasingly active”.
Sullivan and Wang have met five times over the past year-and-a-half — in Washington, Vienna, Malta and Bangkok, as well as alongside Biden and Xi at a November 2023 summit in California.
The US and Chinese officials also discussed the tense issue of Taiwan.
Wang stressed that Taiwan belonged to Beijing and that China will “certainly be unified”.
He told Sullivan that the US should “put into practice its commitment not to support Taiwan independence” and stop arming Taiwan, according to CCTV.
The White House said Sullivan “underscored the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
The US and Chinese officials also discussed issues including Ukraine, the Middle East and the Korean Peninsula, both sides said.
Sullivan had “emphasised concerns” about China’s support for Russia’s defence industry during Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the White House said.
Wang countered that China was committed to “working towards a political solution to the Ukraine crisis” and warned Washington off imposing “illegal unilateral sanctions.”
