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Hong KongCNN —
Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan in Beijing Thursday as the two countries press ahead on stabilizing communication in their increasingly contentious relationship.
The meeting was the capstone of a three-day trip that also saw Sullivan hold talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Central Military Commission vice chairman Gen. Zhang Youxia – the first meeting between a US official and Chinese military figure in that role since 2018.
Xi said China’s “commitment to the goal of a stable, healthy and sustainable China-U.S. relationship remains unchanged,” according to a readout from China’s Foreign Ministry.
The leader expressed “hope that the US side will work in the same direction with China, view China and its development in a positive and rational light, see each other’s development as an opportunity rather than a challenge,” the readout said.
Sullivan in introductory remarks reiterated that US President Joe Biden is “committed to responsibly managing this consequential relationship to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict.”
He added that Biden looks forward to engaging with Xi again “in the coming weeks” – foreshadowing potential talks or a call between the two leaders, which were also referenced in both sides’ readouts of meetings between Sullivan and Foreign Minister Wang. Xi and Biden last spoke during a call in April.
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’s aggressions in the South China Sea and toward Taiwan, and US trade controls targeting China.
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’s two largest economies.
Expectations for significant progress on sticking points in the relationship during this meeting were low, especially as the US elections loom.
“For both sides, they have no strong motivation to push aggressively … because of the election, both are in a ‘wait and see’ mode” while looking to maintain current relations without incident, said Liu Dongshu, an assistant professor at the City University of Hong Kong.
Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to maintain a level of continuity with Biden’s 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.
Such talks – part of a broader resumption of regular military discussions following a meeting between Biden and Xi in November – would involve commanders leading American troops in the Indo-Pacific and those leading Chinese strategy in the Southern and Eastern theater.
The Biden administration has for months pushed to move direct discussions between the two global powers beyond the government brass to uniformed officers making decisions in the region. The call has not yet been scheduled, a US official told CNN.
Wang and Sullivan’s 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.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan in Beijing Thursday as the two countries press ahead on stabilizing communication in their increasingly contentious relationship.
The meeting was the capstone of a three-day trip that also saw Sullivan hold talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Central Military Commission vice chairman Gen. Zhang Youxia – the first meeting between a US official and Chinese military figure in that role since 2018.
Xi said China’s “commitment to the goal of a stable, healthy and sustainable China-U.S. relationship remains unchanged,” according to a readout from China’s Foreign Ministry.
The leader expressed “hope that the US side will work in the same direction with China, view China and its development in a positive and rational light, see each other’s development as an opportunity rather than a challenge,” the readout said.
Sullivan in introductory remarks reiterated that US President Joe Biden is “committed to responsibly managing this consequential relationship to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict.”
He added that Biden looks forward to engaging with Xi again “in the coming weeks” – foreshadowing potential talks or a call between the two leaders, which were also referenced in both sides’ readouts of meetings between Sullivan and Foreign Minister Wang. Xi and Biden last spoke during a call in April.
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’s aggressions in the South China Sea and toward Taiwan, and US trade controls targeting China.
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’s two largest economies.
Expectations for significant progress on sticking points in the relationship during this meeting were low, especially as the US elections loom.
“For both sides, they have no strong motivation to push aggressively … because of the election, both are in a ‘wait and see’ mode” while looking to maintain current relations without incident, said Liu Dongshu, an assistant professor at the City University of Hong Kong.
Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to maintain a level of continuity with Biden’s 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.
Military talks
Wang and Sullivan also discussed plans to hold a call between their respective military theater commanders, both sides said.Such talks – part of a broader resumption of regular military discussions following a meeting between Biden and Xi in November – would involve commanders leading American troops in the Indo-Pacific and those leading Chinese strategy in the Southern and Eastern theater.
The Biden administration has for months pushed to move direct discussions between the two global powers beyond the government brass to uniformed officers making decisions in the region. The call has not yet been scheduled, a US official told CNN.
Wang and Sullivan’s 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.
