US diplomat Jake Sullivan calls on Chinese President Xi Jinping

Washington: US President Joe Biden’s top aide Jake Sullivan met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, at the end of the former’s three-days visit to China.

The meeting was held at the Great Hall of the People and followed talks that Sullivan had with Chinese officials including foreign minister Wang Yi and vice-chair of the central military commission, Zhang Youxia.

Addressing a press conference in Beijing, the US National Security Adviser Sullivan described the Beijing trip as “a true working visit”.

The meeting was part of ongoing efforts to maintain channels of communication and responsibly manage the relationship between the United States and China, the White House said adding that the two sides were planning a call between Biden and Xi “in the coming weeks”.

Chinese state media Xinhua reported that Xi told Sullivan that Beijing’s commitment to the goal of a “stable, healthy and sustainable” China-US relationship remains unchanged as per Chinese news outlet Xinhua.

Xi said both China and the United States should be responsible for history, for the people and for the world, and should be “a source of stability” for world peace and a propeller for common development.

Sullivan addressing a press conference in Beijing after the meeting said, “Under President Biden’s leadership, the United States has and will continue to advance its interests and values, look out for its friends. And as we do, we believe that competition with China does not have to lead to conflict or confrontation. The key is responsible management through diplomacy.”

Sullivan had since May 2023 held four meetings with Wang Yi. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, commerce Secretary Raimondo and their counterparts, and many other Cabinet secretaries and their counterparts have held discussions ahead of the the Woodside summit between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in San Francisco in November 2023.

Sullivan said that over the course of 14 hours of meetings, he discussed progress and next steps on implementation of the Woodside commitments. These, Sullivan said, included work on counternarcotics and efforts to reduce the flow of illicit synthetic drugs into the United States, military-to-military communications

The US NSA said that a “very positive outcome” of the meetings will be a call between the military commanders of the Indo Pacific Command and the Southern Theatre commander for the Chinese Army.

“Among other issues of global concern, we discussed the recent efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza,” Sullivan said as per a White House readout. (ANI)

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