On Tuesday, August 27th, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan arrived in Beijing for a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Sullivan becomes the first US National Security Advisor to visit China by invitation since 2016. Currently, the two largest economies in the world are seeking to manage their competition through dialogue.
The two-day meeting is scheduled to discuss a range of contentious issues, including Beijing’s support for Russia in the Ukraine war, US restrictions on Chinese technology, and the Taiwan issue. However, both sides have expressed a desire to stabilize the US-China relationship.
As part of maintaining communication channels between the Biden administration and Beijing, Sullivan and Wang Yi hold face-to-face talks every few months, a mechanism known as the “strategic channel.”
During the media briefing before the closed-door meeting on Tuesday, Sullivan stated that during the dialogue, the US and China leaders have clearly expressed their commitment to responsibly managing the relationship between the two countries.
He mentioned the expectation for in-depth discussions on a range of issues during the meeting, including those on which there is existing consensus, lingering disputes, and matters requiring effective and substantive management.
Wang Yi told the media present that the relationship between the two countries had been full of twists and turns in recent years, and this meeting would be “strategic,” “substantive,” and “constructive.”
From 2022 to 2023, the relationship between the two countries was mostly in a state of suspended communication, which was gradually restored after several months of effort.
The American participants in Tuesday’s talks include Sullivan, US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns, and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink. The Chinese representatives include Wang Yi and Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, among others.
It is expected that Sullivan will express concern over Beijing’s continued support for Russia in the Ukraine conflict and reaffirm the US stance on the South China Sea and the Taiwan issue. He mentioned during a press conference before traveling to Beijing from Canada that he would candidly communicate some international issues of common concern observed by the US with the Chinese side.
On Monday, Canada announced tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, aluminum, and steel.
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Chinese officials will raise issues related to Taiwan and protest against US measures towards Beijing, including tariffs, export controls, and sanctions.
Beijing has long complained that the US is trying to cut off China’s access to advanced technologies, including semiconductors, and that the White House is taking steps to cooperate with allies on security and economic issues.
As per the White House briefing, an official stated that the “strategic channel” communication between Sullivan and Wang Yi aims to gain a detailed understanding of policy intentions, strategic intentions, and how both sides view different situations.
“This is done to eliminate misunderstandings and prevent competition from turning into conflict. Most importantly, we have identified some areas that we believe are important and have indicated that we can cooperate,” the official said.
In the final months of his presidency, Biden has been pushing for direct diplomacy. The recently approved Democratic Party platform emphasizes a focus on domestic and foreign actions to “outcompete” China.
“We seek to ‘lower risk’ and diversify the economic relationship between the two countries, rather than decoupling,” the platform states.
In terms of specific actions, it continues the strategy of “tall walls” proposed by Sullivan, engaging in orderly competition with China while protecting a certain amount of sensitive American technology from being transferred to China through targeted restrictions. Additionally, cooperation with China is sought in areas that align with US and global interests, such as addressing climate change, combating fentanyl trafficking, and artificial intelligence.
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is likely to continue a similar strategy if elected. However, she has not yet released detailed policy proposals.
According to Reuters, many analysts who support former President Trump and the Republican Party believe that such approaches are too weak in the face of China’s increasingly assertive foreign policy.
On Monday, after a Chinese military aircraft and a spy plane invaded Japanese airspace, Japan scrambled fighter jets.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Defense Minister on Tuesday accused Beijing of being the “biggest disruptor of peace” in Southeast Asia and called for a broader interpretation of the US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty, following a week-long standoff between Chinese and Philippine vessels near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.
Multiple US media outlets expect that this visit will not result in major announcements but could lay the groundwork for the final Biden-Xi meeting before Biden steps down in January next year.
During a recent White House briefing, a senior official explicitly stated that they are looking for an opportunity for the two leaders to have a dialogue before the end of the year.
The APEC Summit in November will be held in Peru, and the G20 Summit will take place in Brazil, with US and Chinese leaders likely to hold sideline meetings during these summits.
Chinese media reports state that Sullivan’s visit to China represents the US’s continued high-level exchanges with China, including strategic communications, in the hope of preventing significant turbulence in the relationship.
Bloomberg earlier quoted a senior US official who spoke on condition of anonymity, saying that Sullivan would make it clear during his visit that regardless of the election outcome, he would not speak for the next administration.
Sullivan’s visit comes 69 days before the November US presidential election, in which Vice President Kamala Harris will compete against former President Trump.
Both candidates have taken a tough stance on the world’s second-largest economy. Harris has stated the goal of ensuring that “America, not China (the CCP), wins the competition of the 21st century. We must strengthen, not relinquish, our global leadership.”
During Trump’s first term, he initiated a trade war with Beijing and signed the Phase One trade deal with China, a tariff policy that has been continued by the Biden administration. In anticipation of a potential second term, Trump has proposed levying a 60% tariff on all Chinese goods imported to the US.