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The 'intense diplomacy' to stop a US-China war
It was the latest in a series of bilateral meetings between the two men that appear to have stemmed from the G20 Bali summit in November 2022, when US President Joe Biden and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping set them up as a quasi-formal back channel to put a “floor” on worsening relations.
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China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan look at each other before talks at Yanqi Lake in Beijing on August 27, 2024. (AFP/Ng Hang Guan)
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t the end of January in the Thai capital Bangkok, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Chinese foreign policy supremo Wang Yi held two six-hour negotiating sessions - described by Thailand’s Foreign Ministry as an effort “to try and iron out their differences”.
It was the latest in a series of bilateral meetings between the two men that appear to have stemmed from the G20 Bali summit in November 2022, when US President Joe Biden and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping set them up as a quasi-formal back channel to put a “floor” on worsening relations.
As director of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee's Foreign Affairs Commission, Wang is Xi’s top foreign policy adviser, also serving as foreign minister.
Last week, Sullivan chalked up what may in some respects be his most significant win so far - a direct meeting with Xi himself on a visit to the Chinese capital. That trip - as well as another marathon session with Wang - included a face-to-face meeting with General Zhang Youxia, Vice Chairman of China's Central Military Commission (CMC), and his team.
Ever since military-to-military contact was terminated by Beijing following a May 2022 visit to Taiwan by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, US officials have been anxious to restart it.
Over the last year, they have finally achieved some progress. Sullivan’s was the first US meeting with a CMC vice-chair since 2018 - the CMC is chaired by Xi himself, and its two vice-chairs are China’s most senior military officers. As such, it will have been seen as particularly important.
Three years older than Xi, General Zhang is reported to have grown up with the Chinese leader after their fathers served together in the People's Liberation Army.
