The meeting, over the last two days, took place on the island of Malta, the White House revealed in a statement, saying that Jake Sullivan, advisor to President Joe Biden, and the Chinese minister, Wang Yi, had “frank, substantive and constructive discussions”, at a time when the world’s two largest economies are trying to “maintain open lines of communication”.
Sullivan and Wang discussed the relationship between the two countries, global and regional security issues, Russia’s war in Ukraine and the Taiwan Strait issue, he detailed.
“The United States noted the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. The two sides pledged to maintain this strategic channel of communication and to pursue additional high-level engagement and consultations in key areas between the United States and the People’s Republic of China in the coming months,” according to the statement.
Washington and Beijing are competitors, despite an extensive commercial partnership, and the relationship is fraught with pressure with episodes such as the downing by US forces of a “Chinese spy balloon” earlier this year, the Chinese government’s intrusion into the emails of the US Secretary of Commerce, or Washington’s restriction on the export to China of advanced computer chips.
President Joe Biden recently spoke with Chinese Premier Li Qiang when they were in India for the Group of 20 summit, and said that they talked about “stability” and “it wasn’t confrontational at all”.
Biden has been working to strengthen relations with Japan, South Korea, India, Vietnam and other countries to counterbalance China’s influence in the Pacific region.
Speaking to the press last Sunday, Biden said that these alliances are not about a “cold war” with China.
“It’s not about containing China,” he said, “it’s about having a stable base” for global economic growth.
Sullivan also met with the Prime Minister of Malta, Robert Abela, and they spoke about the role of the Mediterranean region in helping to provide “global peace and security”, according to a statement from the Maltese government.
*with Lusa
