The United States and China have agreed to work together toward an expected summit between presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping next month, US officials said on Friday, following hours of meetings between Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and senior US diplomats in Washington.
Key points:
- Wang Yi, one of China’s top diplomats, met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington
- Their talks have set the stage for a summit between presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping
- The diplomats discussed the South China Sea, Taiwan, human rights, and the Middle East
In the first visit by a Chinese foreign minister to Washington since 2018, veteran diplomat Wang Yi also met with Mr Biden for an hour.
The White House described talks between the two as a “good opportunity” in keeping lines of communication open between two geopolitical rivals with deep policy differences.
Mr Wang’s meetings with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US national security advisor Jake Sullivan spanned nine hours over over two days.
US officials said these interactions were “candid and in-depth”.
Mr Biden’s top aides raised Washington’s key concerns: The need to restore military-to-military channels between the two countries, Beijing’s actions in the East and South China Sea, Taiwan, human rights, the flow of fentanyl precursors and the cases of Americans detained in China, US officials said.
There were also “frank exchanges” between Mr Blinken and Mr Wang over the erupting conflict in the Middle East.
US invites Chinese foreign minister
The key area that appeared to show some positive momentum was toward an expected meeting between Mr Biden and Mr Xi on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit next month in San Francisco.
“We are making preparations for such a meeting,” a senior administration official, briefing reporters on the condition of anonymity, said.
“Obviously, Chinese leaders often confirm publicly much closer to a trip, so I will leave it to the Chinese side to figure out if and when they make that announcement.”
The Biden administration has seen direct leader-level engagement with Mr Xi as particularly important in managing tensions as it sought to prevent relations — also severely strained by intense economic competition and disagreements on a host of issues — from veering into conflict.
“A big part of a potential meeting would be the two leaders sitting down together and having those conversations on strategic intent,” the anonymous official said.
On Thursday, Mr Wang told Mr Blinken that the two countries said the meetings could reduce misunderstandings and stabilise ties.
“Not only should we resume dialogue, the dialogue should be in-depth and comprehensive,” he said.
Mr Wang’s three-day visit follows a flurry of bilateral diplomatic engagements in recent months, largely at US request, aimed at salvaging what were rapidly deteriorating ties early in the year following the US downing of an alleged Chinese spy balloon.
But some in Washington have questioned whether a slate of mostly unreciprocated US Cabinet-level official visits to Beijing over the past six months, including by Mr Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, played into Beijing’s hand.
The trips by Ms Yellen and Ms Raimondo led to new bilateral economic and commercial working groups, which critics worry will only pull US focus away from — and possibly delay — sanctions, export controls, and broader measures intended to enhance US competition with China.
UN stalemate over Gaza aid
The Israel-Gaza conflict has added a fresh dynamic to the testy relationship between the superpowers, and Washington is hoping Beijing can use its influence with Iran to prevent an escalation into a wider war in the Middle East.
US officials said the issue came up frequently during Mr Wang’s meetings but it was unclear whether Washington was able to get Beijing to commit to using its influence in the Middle East, particularly with Iran, to help contain the conflict.
“We expressed our deep concern with the situation and pressed China to take a more constructive approach, and that would include, of course, their engagements with the Iranians, to urge calm,” one of the senior administration officials said.
China has condemned violence and attacks on civilians in the conflict, and while Mr Wang has declared Israel’s actions “beyond the scope of self-defence” he has not named Hamas in his comments.
First aid trucks roll into Gaza
China had supported a humanitarian-focused draft from Brazil presented to the UN Security Council which was subsequently vetoed by the US, along with another Russian draft, which argued more time was needed for US-led diplomacy.
China, in turn, vetoed a US push for pauses in fighting to allow humanitarian aid access, the protection of civilians, and a stop to arming Hamas and other militants in the Gaza Strip.
The initial US text emphasised Israel’s right to defend itself and demanded Iran to cease exporting arms, and did not include a call for humanitarian pauses for aid access, though it was largely toned down in the final draft put to the vote.
“The draft does not reflect the world’s strongest calls for a ceasefire, an end to the fighting, and it does not help resolve the issue,” China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun told the council after the vote.
“At this moment, ceasefire is not just a diplomatic term. It means the life and death of many civilians.”
US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield described the veto as disappointing. “Though today’s vote was a setback, we must not be deterred.”
Reuters
