US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is on a trip to Beijing for talks with Foreign Minister Wang Yi. He is trying to hold together a relationship that has been severely tested.
The two officials and others will hold talks through Thursday. They are discussing tensions across the Taiwan Strait and in the South China Sea. Sullivan also wants to address concerns that Chinese firms are exporting material to Russia that could be used by the military.
Ahead of the meeting, Sullivan said the two sides are working to ensure that their “competition does not veer into conflict.” He added they are trying to find ways to work together where their interests align.
Chinese officials said they would defend their positions in territorial disputes throughout the region and would bring up US trade controls on exports to China.
Wang said he hopes the communication will “not only be strategic but also substantive” and “very constructive” and can help advance China-US relations.
President Biden hosted President Xi Jinping last November at a summit in California. Observers in the US say Sullivan and Wang helped make that meeting happen and that discussions this week could lay the groundwork for another summit before Biden leaves office in January.