Chinese leader, Xi Jinping has asserted his country’s commitment to sustainable ties with U.S.
This came as met with U.S. National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan as the latter concluded a three-day visit with the stated aim of keeping communications open in a relationship that has become increasingly tense in recent years.
“While great changes have taken place in the two countries and in China-U.S. relations, China’s commitment to the goal of a stable, healthy and sustainable China-U.S. relationship remains unchanged.”
Xi Jinping
Meanwhile, Sullivan told reporters at a news conference shortly before leaving Beijing, “We believe that competition with China does not have to lead to conflict or confrontation.”
He added that the key is responsible management through diplomacy.
“President Biden is committed to responsibly managing this consequential relationship to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict or confrontation, and to work together where our interests align.”
Jake Sullivan
Sullivan said that an agreement to have a call between the military theater commanders was a “very positive outcome” of his meetings and that they hope to deepen military-to-military communication so it can be passed on to whoever succeeds Biden as President.
Xi and Sullivan’s meeting also touched on the issues of American citizens detained in China, on Taiwan and also on the clashes between the China and Philippines in the South China Sea.
Additionally, the two discussed China’s support for Russia, as a recent U.S. assessment found that the country was exporting technology that Russia uses to manufacture missiles, tanks and other weaponry.
They also discussed efforts to end the Ukraine war, but Sullivan said that they did not make any progress on that issue.
Sullivan, who was on his first trip to China as the main adviser to President Joe Biden on national security issues, earlier met with Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi and a top general from the Central Military Commission.
Sullivan Meets With General Zhang Youxia
Sullivan also met one of China’s vice chairs of the Central Military Commission, Gen. Zhang Youxia, on Thursday morning; a rare meeting with a visiting U.S. official.
According to a statement from China’s Defense Ministry, Zhang said that reunification of Taiwan with the mainland is “the mission and responsibility” of the military.
“China demands that the United States stop military collusion between the U.S. and Taiwan, stop arming Taiwan and stop spreading false narratives about Taiwan,” the statement said, without elaborating on what the false narratives are.
Sullivan said, “it is rare that we have the opportunity to have this kind of exchange” and underscored “the need for us to responsibly manage U.S.-China relations.
A White House statement said that the two had “recognized the progress in sustained, regular military-military communications over the past 10 months” and noted an agreement announced the previous day to hold a telephone call between commanders at the theater-level in the near future.
On Taiwan, the U.S. statement said that only that Sullivan had raised the importance of cross-Strait peace and stability.
A decades old-issue, Taiwan in recent years has re-emerged as a critical one as the island’s ties with China became increasingly strained over Beijing’s claims that Taiwan is part of China.
Taiwan, a self-governing island that split from communist China in 1949, has rejected Beijing’s demands that it accept unification with the mainland.
The U.S. is obligated under a domestic law to provide the island with sufficient hardware and technology to deter invasion.
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