(Washington) Soon a conversation between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping? Their close advisers have in any case resumed contact, after several weeks of radio silence or almost between China and the United States.
The US President’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday and Thursday in Vienna, the White House said in a statement Thursday.
The two senior officials had “frank, substantial and constructive discussions”, assured the American executive, while the official news agency New China spoke of exchanges aimed at “removing the obstacles” current in the Sino-American relations.
The interview signals a certain relaxation between the two superpowers, scrambled since the Chinese balloon affair in February, and who engage in fierce competition, whether diplomatic, military, technological or economic.
“This unfortunate incident has led to a certain pause” in contacts, a senior White House official commented modestly on Thursday, indicating that Washington was seeking to “restore ordinary communication channels”.
In February, already high tensions between China and the United States escalated due to the overflight of American territory by a Chinese balloon, which had been shot down.
Washington had denounced a spy operation, which Beijing denied.
“We don’t want this to happen again,” said the senior US official, who declined to be named, adding that the United States wanted to “move forward now”.
Jake Sullivan and Wang Yi discussed, according to the White House, as much “Russia’s war against Ukraine” as issues related to the Taiwan Strait, in other words the two most sensitive subjects in the bilateral relationship.
Washington has repeatedly warned China against any military assistance to Russia.
The United States is also worried about Taiwan, a territory that China claims, and is closely monitoring Beijing’s maneuvers in the region.
“Wang Yi clearly stated China’s solemn position on the Taiwan issue,” New China said.
” Progress ”
The meeting in Austria will revive speculation about an upcoming meeting between Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Asked about this on Wednesday, the American president launched: “There is progress. It will work. »
The senior White House official did not advance on a potential timetable, nor did she give a date for a visit to Beijing by the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken.
The latter had planned to go there in February, but had canceled at the last minute due to the Chinese ball affair.
Joe Biden and Xi Jinping last spoke on the sidelines of the G20 in Indonesia in November 2022.
Joe Biden repeats that he will not give China any favors in the competition between the two superpowers, but that he will do everything to ensure that the rivalry does not degenerate into conflict.
The United States seeks to cooperate where possible with the Asian giant, in particular in the fight against climate change and against the trafficking of synthetic opioids.
In a speech on April 27, Jake Sullivan outlined the main lines of American strategy in terms of economic sovereignty and industrial ambition, and mentioned Beijing more specifically.
Taking up a formula from the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, he assured that the United States was not seeking to “cut” (“decoupling”) completely from China, but to reduce the risks (“de- risking”) and to diversify their supply chains.
“It takes two to run our competition responsibly. It takes a certain level of strategic maturity to recognize that we need to keep our lines of communication open even when we compete,” said Joe Biden’s top diplomatic and security adviser.