Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met to discuss competition and cooperation between the two countries.
Both sides announced that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan held talks aimed at maintaining contact, and Foreign Minister Wang said that “Taiwan independence” is important for Sino-U.S. relations. He emphasized that this poses the greatest risk.
Wang and Sullivan met in Bangkok, Thailand, on Saturday, just over two months after U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in San Francisco.
China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the two leaders had “frank, substantive and fruitful strategic communication on the implementation of the agreements reached at the San Francisco meeting and the appropriate handling of important and sensitive issues in Sino-US relations.” ” he said.
The White House said the officials’ meeting was “part of an effort to maintain open lines of communication” between the two countries.
“Mr. Sullivan emphasized that the United States and China are competitive, but we need to prevent the two countries from falling into conflict or confrontation.”
China and the United States have clashed over technology, trade, human rights and issues related to Taiwan, which China claims as territory.
Taiwan
The Democratic Progressive Party (DDP) secured a third term in Taiwan’s recent general election. The Democratic Progressive Party resists China’s claims to Taiwan.
This week, two U.S. lawmakers met with Taiwan’s new leader, Lai Ching-de, to reaffirm Washington’s support for the self-governing island of Taiwan.
Two days after the vote, Biden sent an unofficial delegation to congratulate Lai, making it the second group to arrive in Taiwan since the election.
However, according to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wang said in a meeting with Sullivan that Taiwan is “an internal matter of China, and that Taiwan’s local elections will not change the fundamental reality that Taiwan is part of China.” I can’t do it,” he emphasized.
“The biggest risk to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is the so-called ‘Taiwan independence’ movement. The biggest challenge for China-US relations is also the “Taiwan independence” movement,” he added.
Before the talks, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense said that China delivered 33 aircraft, including SU-30 fighter jets and six naval ships, between 6 a.m. Friday and 6 a.m. Saturday (10 p.m. Thursday to 10 p.m. Japan time). They announced that they had been dispatched to areas around Taiwan. Of the fighter jets sent, 13 passed through the Taiwan Strait, the unofficial border between Taiwan and China.
The White House said Sullivan “stressed the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” without elaborating.
high level diplomacy
The White House said the officials touched on other issues apart from cross-strait issues, including Russia’s war with Ukraine, Iran and the Middle East, North Korea, the South China Sea and Myanmar.
According to the Ministry of China, the two sides agreed that the two presidents will maintain regular contact, provide strategic guidance on bilateral relations, and promote U.S.-China exchanges in various fields and levels.
The White House said in a statement that as part of “high-level diplomacy,” the two countries will set up a telephone conversation between President Xi and President Biden.
They also agreed to establish a joint working group on counter-drug cooperation and launch an intergovernmental dialogue on artificial intelligence.
Sullivan and Wang “recognized recent progress in resuming communications between the military and noted the importance of maintaining these channels,” the White House added.