US national security adviser and General Zhang Youxia clash over Taiwan but agree to military talks to defuse tensions.
The US national security adviser held wide-ranging talks with a top Chinese military official in Beijing, concluding a three-day trip aimed at strengthening communication between the superpowers on a range of issues.
Jake Sullivan met Thursday with General Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, as China is embroiled in security disputes with U.S. allies Japan and the Philippines.
The NSA raised issues including “stability” in the Taiwan Strait, the “U.S. commitment to freedom of navigation in the South China Sea,” China’s support for “Russia’s defense industrial base” and ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, according to a White House statement.
On Taiwan, Zhang warned that the status of the autonomous island was “the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-US relations.”
Taiwanese independence and “peace and stability” in the Taiwan Strait are “incompatible,” he said, according to a statement from China’s Ministry of National Defense.
“China demands that the US stop military collusion with Taiwan, stop arming Taiwan, and stop spreading false narratives related to Taiwan,” Zhang added.
Before the talks, Zhang had praised the United States for the value it places on “military security and our military-to-military relationship.”
“It's rare that we have the opportunity to have this kind of exchange,” Sullivan replied to Zhang.
The two officials agreed that more direct military talks between commanders would take place in the future.
Defuse tensions
Sullivan also met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, who said “China's commitment to the goal of stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations remains unchanged,” state broadcaster CCTV reported.
“We hope the United States will work with China to reach a mutual agreement,” Xi said.
On Wednesday, Sullivan held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, reportedly seeking to calm tensions between the countries ahead of the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 5.
Wang and Sullivan discussed the possibility of talks soon between U.S. President Joe Biden and Xi, covering a wide-ranging agenda that included contrasting views on trade, the Middle East and Ukraine, and Chinese territorial claims from Taiwan to the South China Sea.
Several countries in the region have competing territorial claims to the waters of the South China Sea. However, China claims almost the entire area.
The White House said Sullivan had “reaffirmed the United States' commitment to defending its Indo-Pacific allies,” referring in particular to “China's destabilizing actions against the Philippines' lawful maritime operations.”
Chinese state media reported that Wang issued a warning to Washington.
“The United States should not use bilateral treaties as an excuse to undermine China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, nor should it support or condone the Philippines’ violative actions,” Wang told Sullivan, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
The attempts at closer cooperation between the two countries come after China suspended communication between the two militaries after prominent US lawmaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022.
Talks only gradually resumed more than a year later, after Xi and Biden met at a summit outside San Francisco last November.
