Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday was meeting with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in Thailand, as the two powers seek to improve relations after years of tensions.
Beijing and Washington have clashed on flashpoint issues from technology and trade to human rights, as well as over Taiwan and competing claims in the South China Sea.
In a bid to improve some of the worst relations in decades, US President Joe Biden in November last year met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in San Francisco for talks that both sides described as a qualified success.
Photo: Thai Government Spokesman Office via AP
“As agreed by China and the United States, Wang Yi will hold a new round of meetings with National Security Advisor Sullivan of the United States in Bangkok,” the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, adding Wang would be in Thailand until Monday.
The US said the talks would take place yesterday and today.
“This meeting continues the commitment by both sides at the November 2023 Woodside Summit between President Biden and President Xi to maintain strategic communication and responsibly manage the relationship,” the White House said.
Sullivan yesterday met with Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and other top officials in Bangkok, both nations said.
They discussed “regional and global issues, including efforts to address the worsening crisis in Burma,” where fighting has flared between the Myanmar junta and ethnic armed groups in the north of the nation, the White House said.
Speaking in Beijing this month, Wang said that while the relationship had encountered “serious difficulties,” ties had “stabilized” last year, but Wang’s rosy assessment belied continuing sources of tension, with the two powers this month butting heads over Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections.
A delegation of US lawmakers visited Taiwan this week, meeting with president-elect William Lai (賴清德) and reaffirming Washington’s support for the democracy.
In the buildup to the election, Chinese officials slammed Lai as a dangerous separatist who would take Taiwan down the “evil path” of independence.
Following a Washington missive congratulating him on his election, Beijing said it “strongly deplored” the statement, warning the US against any support for what it called “separatist forces.”
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday complained that Washington had “carried out a series of negative words and deeds” since Lai’s election.
Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) urged the US to “immediately stop infringing and provocative actions” and “stop causing trouble for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
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