BEIJING: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will hold talks with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Bangkok during their visit in Thailand, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Friday, as the two countries continue their momentum of engagement and communication despite multiple issues on which they are at odds.
The high-level contact between Wang and Sullivan, scheduled for January 26-27, according to the White House, is one of the most authoritative communication mechanisms between China and the US. Issues of urgent mutual concern, such as the Ukraine crisis, Red Sea tensions, the Taiwan question and the South China Sea disputes, are expected to be discussed.
Chinese experts believe that a meeting in Thailand would help create a calm and pragmatic atmosphere for dialogue, as it is consistent with the two sides’ choice of a third venue, such as Vienna and Malta in 2023. The meeting of senior diplomats is also likely to set the stage for possible interactions between the two countries’ heads of state in the future.
They noted that the continuation of high-level interactions between the two sides will, to some extent, offset the negative impact of the US 2024 presidential election on bilateral relations, which are expected to remain stable and moderate, but in general, the Biden administration’s sincerity is still limited, and it has yet to abandon its approach of defining China-US relations through competition, which means the risk of conflict remains.
According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin, Wang Yi, also Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, will visit Thailand from January 26 to 29, at the invitation of Thailand’s deputy prime minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara.
Maintaining strategic communication between Wang Yi and Sullivan is an important consensus reached by the heads of state of China and the US. During the new round of meetings, Wang Yi will state China’s position on China-US relations and the Taiwan question, and exchange views with the US side on international and regional issues of common interest, Wang Wenbin said at a press briefing on Friday afternoon.
Citing US officials, the Wall Street Journal said Sullivan is expected to discuss Houthi attacks in the Red Sea along with a range of other issues. The Biden administration, according to media reports, wants China to halt Iran’s military and financial backing of the Houthi militants, which are attacking ships in the Red Sea linked to Israel. The US hopes that China will cooperate with the US on the Red Sea crisis and exert pressure through the media, but we know that the China-US relationship goes far beyond that, Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Friday. –The Daily Mail-Global Times news exchange item
