Joe Biden and Xi Jinping plan to hold talks soon, White House says

The United States and China are planning a phone call between President Joe Biden and his/her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping “in the coming weeks”, the White House said on Thursday.

The call, which takes place ahead of the US presidential election this November, was discussed during a two-day meeting between Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at Yankee Lake in Beijing on August 27-28.

The White House also said the two countries will also aim to hold phone talks between military theatre commanders “in the near future.”

The two leaders were scheduled to meet in California in November 2023 for what was called the Woodside Summit.

During the meeting between Sullivan and Wang, the two sides held candid, substantive and constructive discussions on bilateral, regional and global issues.

The White House said Sullivan and Wang underscored the importance of the strategic channel of communication that has been established over the past 18 months and committed to maintaining high-level diplomacy and working-level consultations on an ongoing basis.

The two also discussed progress and next steps in the implementation of Woodside Summit commitments, including on counter-narcotics, military-to-military communications, and artificial intelligence security and risks.

Top US and Chinese diplomats discussed next steps to reduce the flow of illicit synthetic drugs, continued repatriation of illegal immigrants, and law enforcement cooperation.

They also underlined the importance of taking concrete steps to address the climate crisis and welcomed further discussions during the upcoming visit to China by John Podesta, the President’s Senior Advisor for International Climate Policy.

Sullivan stressed that the United States will continue to take necessary actions to prevent the use of advanced American technologies to undermine our national security, without unnecessarily restricting trade or investment.

The US National Security Advisor also raised concerns about China’s unfair trade policies and non-market economic practices in his/her meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister.

Sullivan reiterated that resolving the cases of American citizens wrongly detained or barred from exiting China is a top priority. he/she also underscored America’s longstanding commitment to universal human rights and fundamental freedoms, the White House said.

Sullivan’s visit was the fifth time the US NSA and Wang held strategic talks since May 2023 and the first time in eight years that a US National Security Adviser was visiting China.

Sullivan underlined the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and stressed concerns about Chinese support for Russia’s defense industrial base and its impact on European and transatlantic security.

Sullivan reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to defend its Indo-Pacific allies and expressed concern about Chinese destabilizing actions against “legitimate Philippine maritime operations in the South China Sea”.

The two sides also discussed shared concerns about North Korea, Myanmar and West Asia.

Meanwhile, according to a statement issued by the White House, Sullivan met General Zhang Youxia, vice president of the Central Military Commission, in Beijing on August 29 and stressed that both countries have a responsibility to prevent competition from turning into conflict or confrontation.

The two sides reaffirmed the importance of regular military-to-military communications as part of efforts to maintain high-level diplomacy and open communications, as directed by Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the November 2023 Woodside Summit.

The White House said both Sullivan and Zhang recognized the progress in sustained, regular military-military communications over the past ten months and planned to hold a theater commander telephone call in the near future.

Sullivan also spoke about the importance of peace and stability across the strait, the U.S. commitment to freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, concerns about Chinese support for Russia’s defense industrial base, the need to avoid miscalculations and escalations in cyberspace, and ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage agreement in Gaza.