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US-China relations
ChinaDiplomacy

Exclusive | China-US relations: diplomats pave way for Yang Jiechi-Jake Sullivan rematch

  • National security and strategic stability among issues for discussion if meeting can be arranged, sources say
  • The senior officials last met in October with a proposed January 10 follow-up scratched over Washington’s Olympics boycott

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Sources say one sticking point to a meeting between Chinese and US senior diplomats is nuclear arms control. Photo: AP
Catherine WongandRobert Delaney

China and the US are in talks to prepare for a potential crunch meeting between Chinese top diplomat Yang Jiechi and US national security adviser Jake Sullivan on core national security concerns.

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But the two sides remain deeply divided on protocol and agenda items, according to sources familiar with the matter.

02:25

Xi Jinping and Joe Biden call for mutual respect and peaceful China-US coexistence

Xi Jinping and Joe Biden call for mutual respect and peaceful China-US coexistence
If it goes ahead, it will be their first face-to-face meeting of the year. Yang and Sullivan last met in October in Zurich, which paved the way for the virtual presidential summit between Xi Jinping and his American counterpart Joe Biden a month later.
The US side initially proposed for Yang and Sullivan to meet again in Rome around January 10, but the Chinese side was put off by Washington’s announcement of a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics, as well as a call by US lawmakers for the UN to publish a report on Xinjiang, according to one of the sources.

Even as both sides want to prevent their rivalry veering into conflict, they disagree on the range of topics to be covered in the meeting, and who should take part, people familiar with the discussion said.

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“The US has been wanting to hold a meeting on national security and strategic stability for some time. But the Chinese side disagrees with what constitutes national security and strategic stability,” said one.

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