The US National Security Advisor held “frank and constructive” talks with the Chinese Foreign Minister

WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) – White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Malta over the weekend, Beijing and Washington said on Sunday, as the world’s two largest economies seek to stabilize troubled relations.

The two sides held “candid, objective and constructive” talks during multiple meetings held from September 16-17, according to separate statements from the White House and China’s Foreign Ministry published on Sunday.

Sullivan’s meeting with Wang was the latest in a series of high-level discussions between US and Chinese officials that could lay the groundwork for a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this year.

Sullivan last met Wang in Vienna last May.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the two sides agreed to maintain high-level exchanges and conduct bilateral consultations on Asia-Pacific affairs, maritime affairs and foreign policy.

The White House added that the two sides are “committed to maintaining this strategic communication channel and continuing additional high-level engagement and consultations in key areas… in the coming months.”

Washington said Sullivan “noted the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” while Wang warned the United States that the Taiwan issue is “the first insurmountable red line in Sino-US relations,” according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement.

Biden this month expressed disappointment that Xi missed the G20 summit in India, but said he “will be able to see him.” The next possible opportunity for Biden to hold talks with Xi is the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco in November.

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen traveled to China this year to ensure continued communication between the two countries amid tensions that erupted after the US military shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon that traveled over the United States. .

Biden and Xi last met in 2022 on the sidelines of the G20 summit on the Indonesian island of Bali.

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