US and Chinese diplomats hold ‘candid, constructive, fruitful discussions’
- Announcement comes amid recent high-level overtures to boost dialogue between the countries after months of worsening ties
- Two sides said to have ‘exchanged views’ on the bilateral relationship, cross-strait issues and channels of communication
Senior American and Chinese diplomats held “candid, constructive and fruitful” discussions on Monday in Beijing amid ongoing efforts to keep lines of communication open and build on recent diplomatic overtures between the two countries.
“The two sides had candid, constructive and fruitful communication on promoting the improvement of Sino-US relations and properly managing differences in accordance with the consensus of the two heads of state meeting in Bali last November,” China’s foreign ministry said in a brief statement on Tuesday.
The statement said China “stated its solemn position on Taiwan and other major issues of principle” and both sides agreed to continue to maintain communication.
The State Department said in a short readout on Monday that the two sides exchanged views on the bilateral relationship, cross-strait issues, channels of communication and other matters. “US officials made clear that the United States would compete vigorously and stand up for US interests and values,” it said.
Kritenbrink is accompanied on the China leg of his trip this week by Sarah Beran, senior director for China and Taiwan affairs at the National Security Council, while Nicholas Burns, the US ambassador to China, also took part in meetings. The three also met Yang Tao from the foreign ministry’s department of North America and Oceania affairs.
The conference was overshadowed by a close encounter between US and Chinese warships in the Taiwan Strait on Saturday. The US accused the Chinese warship of making an “unsafe” manoeuvre by crossing in front of the American destroyer.
Kritenbrink’s trip is seen as part of a US bid to ease those tensions. But Chinese tabloid Global Times dismissed the effort, saying on Sunday that it was driven more by America’s interest in portraying itself as seeking communication with Beijing.
China urges US to take ‘concrete action’ to stop further decline in ties
“The president will have another conversation with President Xi at the appropriate time,” said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby in a separate briefing on Monday.
“And I’m sure that when he does, he’ll be just as candid with President Xi then as he has been in the past in terms of our concerns, the challenges in this bilateral relationship, but also about the opportunities that still remain and [that] we want to continue to pursue.”
Sullivan underscored hopes for a meeting between Biden and Xi in an interview with CNN on Sunday, saying the two leaders would meet “at some point” as American officials continued to engage their Chinese counterparts at senior levels over the coming months.
Additional reporting by Bochen Han and Igor Patrick in Washington