Top Biden adviser in Beijing as China faces off against US allies

The White House aide’s sojourn comes amid China’s tensions with Japan and the Philippines implicit the South China Sea.

The nationalist information advisor of the United States, Jake Sullivan, has met China’s apical diplomat Wang Yi arsenic Beijing finds itself embroiled successful information rows with cardinal US allies.

Japan scrambled combatant jets aft a Chinese subject aircraft’s incursion into its airspace connected Monday with a subject spy plane.

Speaking astatine a quality league connected Tuesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said the airspace breach – the archetypal by a subject craft – was “not lone a superior usurpation of Japan’s sovereignty but it besides threatens our security”.

Meanwhile, the Philippine defence main connected Tuesday accused China of being the “biggest disruptor” of bid successful Southeast Asia pursuing a week of confrontations betwixt the 2 countries’ ships adjacent a flashpoint disputed shoal successful the South China Sea.

Sullivan’s level landed astatine Beijing’s Capital airdrome conscionable earlier 2pm (06:00 GMT). He was welcomed connected the tarmac by US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns and Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs authoritative Yang Tao.

Sullivan met Wang astatine a edifice connected the bluish outskirts of the Chinese capital, wherever they shook hands successful beforehand of Chinese and US flags.

In his remarks successful beforehand of journalists, Wang described China-US ties arsenic “critical” and which person taken “twists and turns”.

“I hope, arsenic always, the connection volition beryllium not lone strategical but besides substantive and, astatine the aforesaid time, precise constructive,” helium said.

Before proceeding into a closed-door meeting, Sullivan said they would sermon areas of statement and disagreement that “need to beryllium managed efficaciously and substantively”.

Busy agenda

In beforehand of his travel – the archetypal by a US NSA to China since 2016 – an American authoritative said Sullivan would sermon the South China Sea with officials successful Beijing, including Wang.

“We are committed to making the investments, strengthening our alliances, and taking the communal steps connected tech and nationalist information that we request to take,” the authoritative said, referring to sweeping restrictions connected US exertion transfers to China imposed nether President Joe Biden.

“We are committed to managing this contention responsibly … and preventing it from veering into conflict,” she added, speaking connected information of anonymity.

Washington would besides property Beijing connected its mounting “military, diplomatic and economical pressure” connected Taiwan, the self-ruling ideology that China considers portion of its territory and has not ruled retired reunifying done force.

China has kept up its sabre-rattling since the inauguration this twelvemonth of President William Lai Ching-te, whose enactment emphasises Taiwan’s abstracted identity.

Managing tensions

Sullivan volition reiterate US concerns astir China’s support for Russia’s defence manufacture enlargement since its penetration of Ukraine.

Beijing counters that, dissimilar the US, it does not straight springiness weapons to either side.

The modern US-China narration was launched erstwhile Henry Kissinger, past NSA to Richard Nixon, secretly visited Beijing successful 1971 to laic the groundwork for normalising relations with the communist state.

Sullivan and Wang person met 5 times implicit the past twelvemonth and a fractional – successful Washington, DC, Vienna, Malta and Bangkok, arsenic good arsenic alongside Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping astatine a November acme successful California.

The meetings betwixt Wang and Sullivan were sometimes announced lone aft they concluded, and the 2 had spent agelong hours unneurotic down closed doors.

Sullivan’s sojourn comes months earlier the US elections successful November.