Tempers in check as China and US foreign policy advisers meet in Zurich

Name: Xi asked US to ‘properly handle’ Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou case in phone call with Biden: China
Uploaded: 2021-10-06T11:18:29.000Z
Duration: 1 min 3 s
Description: Xi asked US to ‘properly handle’ Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou case in phone call with Biden: China

Yang Jiechi and Jake Sullivan head to Switzerland to find ways to manage national rivalries

But a Xi-Biden summit is unlikely soon with no sign of change in White House’s hard line on Beijing, observers say

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Tempers flared in March when Jake Sullivan and Yang Jiechi met in Alaska. Photo: AP

Catherine Wong

Published: 7:18pm, 6 Oct 2021Updated: 11:38pm, 6 Oct 2021

More than six months after their flare-up in Alaska, top Chinese and American foreign policy advisers made a low-key start to talks in Switzerland on Wednesday as they look for ways to ease tensions over a range of issues, from Taiwan to geopolitics and trade.

The meeting in Zurich between Communist Party Politburo member Yang Jiechi and US national security adviser Jake Sullivan comes more than eight months into the administration of US President Joe Biden, who has persisted with much of his predecessor’s hardline approach towards China.

It also comes more than six months after Yang’s last meeting with Sullivan, in which Yang lashed out at the US, saying it was not entitled to talk to China from a “position of strength”.

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Xi asked US to ‘properly handle’ Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou case in phone call with Biden: China

Both countries said the talks were to follow up on a phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Biden last month.

White House National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne said the Biden administration continued “to seek to responsibly manage the competition” between the two countries.

And Chinese officials said the meeting was intended to rebuild communications and explore the possibility of a Xi-Biden summit.

However, the prospect of that meeting taking place this month has dimmed with Xi not expected to travel to Rome for the Group of 20 summit.