Two top US and China officials meet for a third time this year to ‘reduce risks’
- US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi discuss Taiwan, Ukraine, North Korea and Washington’s Indo-Pacific diplomatic efforts
- ‘Sullivan laid out US views on the region and the enduring commitment of the United States as an Indo-Pacific nation,’ a US official says
China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan held their third meeting in as many months to “reduce risks” amid an extended US focus on diplomacy in Asia that has drawn recriminations from Beijing.
The meeting, which the official called “candid, in-depth, substantive and productive”, was held “on the heels of an intense period of diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific and Mr. Sullivan laid out US views on the region and the enduring commitment of the United States as an Indo-Pacific nation”.
Citing Blinken’s speech, Yang said that China is “resolutely against” defining China-US relations as “in competition”, according to state news agency Xinhua’s account of the meeting. Blinken has framed the bilateral relationship as “strategic competition” since assuming his current role last year, and repeated in last month’s speech.
Regarding Taiwan, Sullivan said that the US position boiled down to “ensuring peace and stability across the strait” and “ensuring that there are no unilateral changes to the status quo”, according to the US official.