US national security adviser to meet Wang Yi in China in first for Biden administration

Jake Sullivan expected to discuss ‘competitive relationship’ with Beijing’s top diplomat, from counternarcotics to military communications

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US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan speaks to the press at the White House in Washington earlier this month. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:30pm, 23 Aug 2024Updated: 2:50am, 24 Aug 2024

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will travel next week to Beijing to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, marking the first trip to China by a national security adviser during President Joe Biden’s administration.

The visit from Tuesday to Thursday will be the fifth time the two high-ranking officials will have met, following their last meeting in January in Bangkok, Thailand, a senior US administration official told reporters on Friday.

The two are expected to discuss key issues in the Sino-American relationship, including advancing counternarcotics cooperation, military-to-military communication as well as AI safety and risk, she said.

Even as both sides have emphasised a need for communication, the US continued to impose trade restrictions on Chinese firms, adding more than 40 mainland entities to its export control list on Friday over Beijing’s alleged support of Russia’s military.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrives to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) meeting in Vientiane, Laos, on July 26, 2024. Photo: AFP

Sullivan would broach US concerns about Beijing’s support for its ally’s defence industrial base and its activities in the South China Sea, she added, speaking on background.