Top US and China envoys meet in Vienna, the highest in-person engagement since Xi and Biden in November
- US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and China’s top diplomat Wang Yi discuss Taiwan and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in talks over two days, White House says
- Chinese state media confirms meetings and says ‘both sides agreed to continue making good use of this strategic communication channel’
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan held “candid” talks on Taiwan and the Russian war in Ukraine with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi for two days this week, the highest-level US-China engagement since presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden met last year.
In Vienna, Austria, on Wednesday and Thursday, “the two sides had candid, substantive, and constructive discussions on key issues in the US-China bilateral relationship, global and regional security issues, Russia’s war against Ukraine, and cross-strait issues, among other topics”, the White House announced.
“This meeting was part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage competition,” it added.
“The two sides agreed to maintain this important strategic channel of communication to advance these objectives, building on the engagement between [Biden and Xi] in Bali, Indonesia, in November 2022.”
A senior Biden administration official briefing reporters after the meeting in Vienna said Sullivan and Wang met for more than eight hours over the two-day period.
China’s state news agency Xinhua reported around the same time as the White House statement that the two officials “held candid, in-depth, substantive, and constructive discussions on removing obstacles and stabilising the China-US relations”.