China and US pave way for Xi-Biden summit in Wang Yi-Jake Sullivan talks

Wang and Sullivan also reach agreement for heads of military theatres to hold video calls

US-China relations

Kawala Xie

Published: 10:08pm, 28 Aug 2024

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Senior Chinese and US officials started paving the way for another Xi-Biden summit with talks on Wednesday that also included an agreement for discussions between military commanders to try to prevent conflict in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.

The White House said the presidents of the two countries were expected to talk on the phone “in coming weeks”.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US national security adviser Jake Sullivan covered a wide range of topics in two days of “candid, substantive, and constructive” talks in Beijing, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

Sullivan will wrap up his trip to China on Thursday, completing the first visit by a White House national security adviser in eight years.

His visit is widely seen as laying the groundwork for another summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden, who will step down in January.

With Biden devoting much of his remaining term to foreign policy, there has been speculation that he could seek to add to his legacy with a trip to China.

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Biden has been to the country before, but he is the only US president since Jimmy Carter not to visit while in office. Xi and Biden could also meet at the G20 summit Brazil in after the US election.

During their talks this week, Wang and Sullivan also agreed that military commanders at the theatre level would hold video calls at “an appropriate time”.

The commitment has been on the agenda since top-level military-to-military communication resumed in November as part of a Xi-Biden consensus reached at the presidents’ last summit in San Francisco.

Sullivan has reportedly been pushing for theatre command talks to better deal with potential conflicts in the Indo-Pacific.

The need for communication has become sharper in the past week with repeated clashes over disputed territory in the South China Sea between Chinese and Philippines vessels.

On Tuesday, a day after the China Coast Guard said two Philippine ships “intruded” into its waters off Sabina Shoal, US Indo-Pacific commander Samuel Paparo said the US was open to the possibility of escorting Philippine vessels.

The US and the Philippines have a mutual defence treaty that requires Washington to protect its ally if it is attacked in the South China Sea. Sullivan reaffirmed this commitment in his meeting with Wang on Wednesday, while also raising concern about China’s “destabilising actions against lawful Philippine maritime operations in the South China Sea”, the White House said.

But Wang told Sullivan that the US should “not to use bilateral treaties as an excuse to undermine China’s sovereignty”.

“China firmly safeguards its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests over the South China Sea islands, and upholds the seriousness and effectiveness of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea,” Wang said, referring to a maritime code of conduct.

“The United States must not … support or condone the Philippines’ infringements.”

On Taiwan, Wang urged the US stop arming the island and abide by the “one-China principle”.

“Taiwan belongs to China, which must be reunified. ‘Taiwan independence’ is the biggest risk to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. The United States should implement its commitment not to support ‘Taiwan independence’,” he said.

“The key for China and the United States to avoid conflict and confrontation is to abide by the three joint communiques.”

The joint communiques were signed between 1972 and 1982 and spell out US recognition of the government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legitimate government of China.

Beijing regards Taiwan as a part of China to be reunited by force if necessary, and has repeatedly warned that it is the most important “red line” not to be crossed in US-China relations.

Most countries, including the US, do not recognise self-governed Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is against any move to take it by force and is legally bound to arm the island to defend itself.

Wang also called on the US to “respect the legitimate development rights of the Chinese people” and “stop suppressing China” in the economy and technology.

The US has imposed various measures, from semiconductor bans to duties on Chinese electric vehicles, to curb China’s military development and rein in what it sees as manufacturing “overcapacity” that threatens US national interests.

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But Wang said that one country’s security could not be based on the insecurity of others.

“National security requires clear boundaries, especially in the economic field, which must be scientifically defined … Using ‘overcapacity’ as an excuse to engage in protectionism will only harm global green development and affect world economic growth,” Wang said.

“The United States should not use its own path to speculate on China, nor should it use the template that a strong country will seek hegemony to mirror China.”

The White House said Sullivan told Wang that “the United States will continue to take necessary actions to prevent advanced US technologies from being used to undermine our national security, without unduly limiting trade or investment”.

The US has also sanctioned Chinese entities over alleged transfer of dual-use goods to Russia to “bolster” Moscow’s defence industry – and its military action in Ukraine, a concern raised by Sullivan in the meeting.

Wang said China remained committed to promoting peace talks in the conflict and urged the US not to “impose illegal unilateral sanctions indiscriminately”.

Wang and Sullivan also agreed to continue cooperation on law-enforcement and combating narcotics and climate change, as well as hold a new round of China-US intergovernmental dialogue on artificial intelligence.