China and the United States on Saturday deemed the discussions in Bangkok between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan “frank” and “substantial”, which notably mentioned Taiwan.
Sino-American relations have deteriorated in recent years due to several issues: ties with Taiwan, trade, rivalry in new technologies, the struggle for influence in the Asia-Pacific, the South China Sea and even human rights.
The two countries, however, seem eager to renew dialogue, with Washington sending several senior officials to Beijing last year and a meeting in November between American President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in California.
A call between the two heads of state is also in preparation, indicated the White House following the talks between Wang Yi and Jake Sullivan, held Friday and Saturday in the Thai capital.
“The two sides had frank, substantive and fruitful strategic discussions” in particular on “how to appropriately handle important and sensitive issues in Sino-American relations,” said the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Using Beijing’s vocabulary, the White House added that this meeting was part of “efforts to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage competition in relations” between the two powers.
“Biggest challenge”
These relations remain tense around the question of Taiwan (officially “the Republic of China”), which Beijing (“the People’s Republic of China”) considers an integral part of Chinese territory.
China accuses the United States, which does not officially recognize Taiwan, of being the main supplier of arms and the main support of the Taiwanese authorities.
“The biggest challenge for Sino-American relations is the movement advocating Taiwan independence,” Wang Yi stressed to Jake Sullivan, Beijing said in its statement.
“The United States must […] concretely implement their commitment not to support Taiwan’s independence and to support China’s peaceful reunification with the island, Wang said.
China takes a dim view of the increase in recent years in contacts between American and Taiwanese political leaders, which it considers to be breaches of the United States’ promise not to have official relations with Taipei.
Two American deputies visited the island again on Wednesday following the Taiwanese presidential election, held in January, which further strained Beijing-Washington ties.
The Chinese authorities had strongly criticized the elected president, Lai Ching-te, from a party traditionally campaigning for a formal separation of Taiwan from mainland China, while Washington had congratulated him.
Artificial intelligence
“The Taiwan issue is an internal affair of China. Elections in the Taiwan region cannot change the basic reality that Taiwan is part of China,” Wang Yi told Jake Sullivan.
China considers Taiwan to be one of its provinces, which it has not yet managed to reunify with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.
She says she favors “peaceful” reunification with the island, where some 23 million inhabitants live governed by a democratic system. But it has never renounced the use of military force.
During discussions held in Bangkok on Friday and Saturday, the two countries also affirmed their desire to hold a dialogue on artificial intelligence in the spring.
They also welcomed the progress in terms of cooperation on the fight against drugs, including the creation of a bilateral working group on this subject.
China had committed at the end of 2023 to fight against fentanyl, this powerful synthetic opiate which causes tens of thousands of overdoses each year in the United States.