The White House said Sunday that its national security adviser met with China’s top diplomats in Malta over the weekend as part of efforts to maintain communications between the two nations and as political purges roil elite circles in Beijing.
Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, met on Saturday and Sunday with Wang Yi, the Communist Party’s top foreign policy official and China’s foreign minister, the White House said in its summary of the talks. The summary said they discussed relations between the two nations, Russia’s war in Ukraine and tensions between Washington and Beijing over Taiwan, a de facto independent democratic island that the party wants to govern and which is a key partner of the USA is.
A senior White House official told reporters in a telephone briefing on Sunday that Mr. Sullivan reiterated U.S. concerns about recent Chinese military actions around Taiwan and other coercive measures and said any disputes or conflicts must be resolved peacefully.
The US official also said Mr Sullivan stressed that China should not try to support Russia in its war against Ukraine. The core of these concerns relates to US intelligence assessments that China has been considering sending weapons to President Vladimir V. Putin for his war since the winter. U.S. officials announced these findings in late February and confronted Chinese officials about them at the time. The White House official said China has so far refrained from sending significant weapons.
A summary issued by the Chinese government on Sunday said Mr. Wang stressed that the Taiwan issue was a “red line” for China, a formulation consistent with the Chinese leadership’s long-held view. The summary also said officials discussed issues related to the Asia-Pacific region, the Korean Peninsula and Ukraine, as well as measures for “personnel exchanges” between the two nations.
The White House summary said Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Wang agreed that the two governments would “pursue additional high-level cooperation and consultations in key areas.” In recent weeks, U.S. officials said they were trying to arrange a meeting between President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of an international summit in San Francisco in November. However, recent developments, particularly within the Chinese government and party, raise doubts as to whether this would happen.
Questions are circulating about the recent purges at the highest levels of the Chinese government and the Communist Party. U.S. officials noted last week that Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Li Shangfu, who had not made any public appearances or statements since late August, was under investigation for corruption. In July, Mr. Xi abruptly fired Foreign Minister Qin Gang and announced that Mr. Wang, who held that ministerial post before being promoted to the top foreign policy post within the party, would take over Mr. Qin’s duties.
U.S. intelligence agencies have been working hard to gain insight into current conflicts within the senior leadership ranks as part of a much broader shadow espionage war and intelligence campaign between the United States and China.
Mr. Biden has made efforts since the spy balloon crisis earlier this year to try to have his top officials engage in high-level diplomacy with their counterparts in Beijing to bring stability to the relationship, no matter how minor.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken traveled to Beijing in June for two days of meetings, mostly for separate talks with Mr. Xi, Mr. Wang and Mr. Qin, after canceling a trip during the balloon episode in early February. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen traveled to Beijing soon after and even made headlines when she dined at a popular restaurant in the Sanlitun district that served exotic mushroom dishes. She was followed by John Kerry, the special envoy for climate, and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
As Mr. Blinken traveled to Beijing, his aides said the summer trips were part of a series of high-level visits by officials from both countries, the world’s two largest economies. But in recent weeks, U.S. officials have said they do not expect Chinese Cabinet-level officials to come to Washington any time soon. Instead, they focused on trying to organize a possible fall meeting between Mr. Biden and Mr. Xi, which would take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ summit in November.
But U.S. officials say this is not certain, and Chinese officials often give final approval to a key diplomatic meeting at the last minute to try to put pressure on the other nation.
Mr Xi is grappling with domestic problems as China’s economy slows, raising doubts about the country’s prospects for further growth. At the same time, more and more Chinese citizens in elite circles are complaining about the country’s development, criticizing Mr. Xi’s recent policies and his tireless promotion of party ideology, and trumpeting his own personal status in party history.