U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan has urged Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to call on Beijing to use its influence to curb Iran's support for the Houthis, who attack ships in the Red Sea. A senior Biden administration official said this in a briefing, according to international media reports. Sullivan met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Bangkok, Thailand.
Jake Sullivan met yesterday and today in Bangkok with Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China, Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi to follow up on the Woodside Summit between President Biden and President Xi last November. This meeting was part of an effort to maintain open lines of communication and handle competition responsibly. Sullivan – we read in a statement from the White House – emphasized that even if the USA and China were in competition, both countries had to prevent this from becoming a conflict. The two sides discussed next steps in a number of areas of cooperation discussed at Woodside. Sullivan and Wang Yi acknowledged recent progress in reviving military-to-military communications and noted the importance of maintaining these channels.
They also discussed next steps toward holding a U.S.-China dialogue on AI in the spring. Sullivan and Wang Yi welcomed progress in counternarcotics cooperation, including the establishment of the U.S.-China Counternarcotics Working Group on Jan. 30. The two sides held candid, substantive and constructive discussions on global and regional issues, including those related to Russia's war on Ukraine, the Middle East, North Korea, the South China Sea and Burma. They also discussed cross-strait issues, and Sullivan stressed the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. Both sides are committed to maintaining this strategic communication channel and pursuing further high-level diplomatic efforts and consultations in key areas between the United States and the People's Republic of China, including through a call between President Biden and President Xi.