US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told a senior Chinese diplomats at a meeting in Vienna this week that Washington is “looking to move beyond” tensions spurred by a Chinese spy balloon that traversed the continental US, a senior official in the administration of US President Joe Biden said.
The meeting between Sullivan and Chinese Central Foreign Affairs Commission Director Wang Yi (王毅) was not publicized by Washington or Beijing ahead of the talks on Wednesday and Thursday in the Austrian capital.
The White House described the wide-ranging discussions, in which the two leaders spent more than eight hours together, as “candid” and “constructive.”
Photo: AFP
The administration official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss the private meeting, said that both sides recognize that February incident was ”unfortunate” and are now looking to “re-establish standard, normal channels of communications.”
The talks are the latest in a series of small signs that tensions could be easing between the world’s two biggest economies.
As the political and military rivalry between Beijing and Washington intensifies, US officials and analysts are worried that a lack of reliable crisis communications could cause a minor confrontation to spiral into greater hostilities.
They cite the ability to communicate with the former Soviet Union as allowing the Cold War to end without a nuclear exchange.
The White House in a statement said the meeting was part of “ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage competition,” and that Sullivan and Wang discussed Taiwan, key issues in the US-China relationship, Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and more.
The meeting took place in a luxury hotel along Vienna’s historical Ringstrasse, an Austrian official familiar with the matter said.
The Austrian official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said planning for the meeting was closely guarded and Austrian authorities were only given a few days’ advance notice that Vienna was chosen for the talks.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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