BEIJING — President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan is embarking on several days of talks with top Chinese officials in Beijing this week, aimed at quieting tensions between the two superpowers ahead of the U.S. election.
Sullivan, China’s top diplomat Wang Yi and others meet for the talks from Tuesday to Thursday as the two countries are at odds over the Middle East and Ukraine, Chinese territorial claims from Taiwan to the South China Sea, and trade.
Upon arrival in Beijing on Tuesday, Sullivan met first with Wang at a lush resort on the northern outskirts of the Chinese capital, where they shook hands in front of Chinese and American flags set before an artistic depiction of the Chinese landscape.
In his remarks in front of journalists, Wang described U.S.-China ties as “critical,” with a bearing on the world, and which have taken “twists and turns.”
Wang added that he hoped relations between the two countries would move to a condition of stable, healthy and sustainable development.
Before proceeding into a closed-door meeting, Sullivan said both would talk about areas of agreement and disagreement that “need to be managed effectively and substantively.”
In the final months of his presidency, Biden has pushed direct diplomacy to influence Chinese President Xi Jinping and keep those tensions at bay; Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate in November’s election, would most likely pursue a similar strategy.
However, many analysts aligned with the Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, see that approach as too soft in the face of China’s increasingly assertive foreign policy.
Sullivan wants to expand military-to-military talks down to the theater command level, a step that Washington hopes could prevent conflict in specific areas like the Taiwan Strait.
The U.S. also wants China to take more action at home to prevent the development of chemicals that can be made into fentanyl, the leading cause of U.S. drug overdoses, and to reach an understanding about safety standards for artificial intelligence.
Beijing plans to express its disapproval over U.S. tariffs on a range of manufactured goods and export controls targeting Chinese chip makers, and talk about its claims of sovereignty over democratically ruled Taiwan.
“China will focus on expressing serious concerns, clarifying its solemn position and making serious demands on the Taiwan issue, the right to development and China’s strategic security,” the Chinese foreign affairs ministry said.
“The United States has continuously taken unreasonable measures against China in terms of tariffs, export controls, investment reviews and unilateral sanctions, which have seriously undermined China’s legitimate rights and interests.”
Both sides are also warily watching the prospect that the Gaza war could spiral into a broader regional conflict.
Sullivan’s trip is the first by a U.S. national security adviser since 2016. He has held regular talks with Wang with an eye to managing competition between the superpowers, and they last met in Bangkok in January.
In Beijing, the two officials could also set the path toward a final meeting between Biden and Xi. Peru hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum summit and Brazil hosts the Group of 20 summit, both in November, where the leaders could meet.