White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met in Malta with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi for two days on Sept. 16-17, both the White House and the Chinese Foreign Ministry reported. A senior administration official told reporters that the two sides met for 12 hours over the two days. “This meeting was part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage the relationship,” the White House readout reports. “The two sides had candid, substantive, and constructive discussions, building on the engagements between President Biden and President Xi in Bali, Indonesia in November 2022.”
“The two sides discussed key issues in the U.S.-China bilateral relationship, global and regional security issues, Russia’s war against Ukraine, and cross-Strait issues, among other topics,” the readout reports further. “The United States noted the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. The two sides committed to maintain this strategic channel of communication and to pursue additional high-level engagement and consultations in key areas between the United States and the People’s Republic of China in the coming months.”
According to press reports, the Chinese side stressed the Taiwan issue. The Foreign Ministry characterized the talks as “frank, substantive and constructive strategic communications on stabilizing and improving China-U.S. relations,” reported Global Times. Wang emphasized that the Taiwan question is the first red line that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations, and that the U.S. must abide by the three joint communiqués and its commitment not to support “Taiwan independence.” China’s development has a strong endogenous momentum, following the inevitable logic of history, Wang said. It cannot be stopped, nor can the Chinese people’s right to development be deprived.
The two sides also discussed the need to re-establish military-to-military dialogue between the U.S. and China, the senior Biden official said. The official said there were “limited indications” that China may be willing to re-establish those channels, but declined to elaborate further.
