National security adviser Jake Sullivan met with top Chinese official Wang Yi in Vienna for “candid” and “constructive” talks, the White House announced Thursday.
The previously undisclosed meeting is among the highest-level engagements between US and Chinese officials since the spy balloon incident earlier this year, which caused Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone a planned trip to Beijing, and it comes amid what has been an incredibly tumultuous year in relations between the two nations.
“This meeting was part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage competition,” a White House readout of Wednesday and Thursday’s meeting said.
“The two sides had candid, substantive, and constructive discussions on key issues in the U.S.-China bilateral relationship, global and regional security issues, Russia’s war against Ukraine, and cross-Strait issues, among other topics,” the readout said.
A US senior administration official said the meeting was an attempt to put communications back on track after the spy balloon incident.
“I think both sides recognized that that unfortunate incident led to a bit of a pause in engagement. We’re seeking now to move beyond that and reestablish just a standard normal channel of communications,” the official said on a call with reporters after the meeting.
“We made clear where we stand in terms of the breach of sovereignty, we’ve been clear on that from the very get go. But again, trying to look forward from here on,” the official added, noting they focused on “how do we manage the other issues that are ongoing right now and manage the tension in the relationship that exists.”
The official said that Chinese officials saw the importance of engaging with the US to try to manage…
Read the full article here