The White House said Jake Sullivan and Chinese envoy Wang Yi had “substantial and constructive discussions” and hoped to maintain “open lines of communication.”
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan held “frank” talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Malta this weekend, as the world’s two largest economies seek to stabilize troubled ties through trade and militarization of the Pacific.
During the two days of talks on Saturday and Sunday, Wang raised the issue of Taiwan – a self-governing, democratic island that China claims as its own territory – as a “red line that should not be crossed in China-US relations.” . The US has pledged to defend Taiwan against possible Chinese aggression.
“The United States has noted the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” the White House said in a statement, adding that the two officials “committed to maintaining this strategic communications channel and pursuing further high-level engagement.”
A Chinese government statement on the Malta meeting largely mirrored the U.S. version, saying that “the two sides conducted frank, substantive and constructive strategic communications.”
China has accused the US of weaponizing technology and trade issues under the guise of national security, while Washington has warned Beijing about its military ambitions in Taiwan and the Pacific. The US has forged security alliances in the Pacific to counter growing Chinese influence.
Sullivan’s meeting with Wang was the latest in a series of high-level talks between U.S. and Chinese officials that could lay the groundwork for a meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this year.
Sullivan last met Wang in May in the Austrian capital Vienna.
Global and regional security
Sullivan and Wang discussed the relationship between the two countries, global and regional security issues, Russia’s war in Ukraine and the Taiwan Strait, the White House statement said.
“The two sides are committed to maintaining this strategic communications channel and pursuing additional high-level engagement and consultations in key areas between the United States and the People’s Republic of China in the coming months,” the statement said.
Biden this month expressed disappointment that Xi had skipped a Group of 20 leaders summit in India, but said he would “see” him. The next likely opportunity for Biden to hold talks with Xi is an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November in San Francisco, California, the US.
US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen traveled to China this year to ensure continued communication between the two countries, amid tensions that flared after the US military seized a Chinese surveillance balloon had shot down flying over the US.
Xi did not attend the G20 summit in New Delhi last weekend and is not expected to be in New York for the United Nations General Assembly this month. Biden has said he hopes to meet Xi soon. The two leaders have not spoken since meeting in Indonesia last November, according to the White House.