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Dewey Sim

The first US national security adviser to travel to China in eight years stressed the importance of “intense diplomacy” with the country as he capped his visit with a meeting with President Xi Jinping.
Addressing reporters after the talks on Thursday, Jake Sullivan said Washington’s relationship with Beijing would remain competitive but the two major powers needed to manage ties responsibly.
“We’re doing that through this very detailed [and] painstaking multiple rounds of diplomatic effort,” he said.
“And it’s not to arrive at a certain end result where everything’s just resolved. It’s rather to arrive on a stable basis so that each of us can stand up for our interests.
“That is what this trip was about. That’s what the diplomacy of the last few years has been about. And we do believe that it puts us in a position to increase the prospect of stability in the relationship.”
In his meeting with Sullivan at the Great Hall of the People, Xi said China’s goal to develop sustainable “stable and healthy” ties with the United States remained unchanged, as did its commitment to safeguarding its own sovereignty, security and development interests.


“It is hoped that the United States will meet China halfway, look at China and its development in a positive and rational manner, see each other’s development as an opportunity rather than a challenge, and work together with the Chinese side to find the right way for the coexistence of the two great powers to promote stability in China-United States relations,” state broadcaster CCTV quoted Xi as saying.
“On that basis, [I hope] China-US relations … can move forward.”
He also expressed his willingness to continue to maintain communication with US President Joe Biden to “take the helm and lead the direction” of the bilateral relationship.
According to the CCTV report, Sullivan said the US hoped to maintain strategic communications to find ways for the peaceful coexistence and growth of the bilateral ties.
Sullivan’s visit – in the countdown to the US presidential election – is largely viewed as laying the groundwork for another summit, with speculation that Biden could make a trip to China before he steps down in January.
During Sullivan’s meetings with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi earlier this week, the pair had discussed setting up a call between the two presidents “in the coming weeks”.
On Thursday, Sullivan told Xi that Biden looked forward to another opportunity to communicate with the Chinese president.
Later, the US official did not confirm whether the leaders would have another summit but said it was likely that they would attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) and Group of 20 summits later this year and “if they are, it would only be natural for them to have a chance to sit down”.
Biden’s last meeting with Xi was on the sidelines of the Apec forum in San Francisco last year. Their only other meeting was in 2022, at the G20 summit in Bali.
If Biden does not visit China, he will be the only US president in decades not to have done so.




Sullivan’s three-day visit is part of a bigger effort by the two major powers to stabilise a fierce rivalry that extended to almost all fronts.
After the talks, the US official said the trip was “not the end of anything … [but] the continuation of a sustained pattern of intensive diplomacy”.
“We believe, in the Biden administration, that intense diplomacy matters … It doesn’t resolve every issue. It doesn’t mean that we’re going to agree on everything but it does mean that we can improve understanding,” he said.
“We can clarify misperceptions, we can reduce the risk of miscalculation, and we can identify areas to work together where our interests align.”
Sullivan acknowledged that little progress had been made on issues such as the Ukraine war and the South China Sea but added that the US would seek to further cooperation with China in areas such as counternarcotics. They would also deepen military communication.
Earlier on Thursday, Sullivan met Zhang Youxia, vice-chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission, for talks on Taiwan, Beijing’s “red line” in US-China relations.
The White House said the two sides reaffirmed the importance of regular military-to-military communications, and planned to hold a call between their military theatre commanders “in the near future”.
Sullivan said the agreement on a call was a “very positive outcome” of his discussions in Beijing, and that his meeting with Zhang was “significant” as it allowed both sides to “give impetus and momentum to military-and-military lines of communication”.
On the South China Sea – which China claims almost entirely – Sullivan said he raised concerns over Beijing’s “destabilising” actions and Washington would continue discussions with its Chinese counterparts.
Tensions remain high in the disputed waterway, where there have been a series of clashes in the past week or so between Beijing and long-time US ally Manila.


“We believe that the order of the day should be de-escalation, and we support direct discussions between the Philippines and the PRC,” Sullivan said, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
“The PRC well understands the long-standing commitment the United States has under its mutual defence treaty to the Philippines, and the Philippines well understands that we have an ironclad commitment to support them in their lawful exercise of their rights.
“At the same time, nobody is looking for a crisis, not the Philippines, not the United States, and we hope not the PRC.”


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US national security advisor Jake Sullivan (left) meets Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday. Photo: Xinhua

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US national security adviser Jake Sullivan arrives in Beijing on Tuesday for a three-day visit. Photo: CCTV

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News

China

Diplomacy

US national security adviser says trip is not an end but continuation of painstaking diplomacy


US national security adviser says trip is not an end but continuation of painstaking diplomacy.


Taiwan

United States

South China Sea

Washington