Nationwide safety adviser Jake Sullivan wrapped up a visit to Beijing by assembly with China’s chief, Xi Jinping.
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
President Biden and Chinese language chief Xi Jinping will likely be talking on the telephone quickly, in all probability their final telephone dialog earlier than the U.S. election. That is one of many outcomes of a uncommon journey to Beijing by nationwide safety adviser Jake Sullivan that wrapped up at the moment. Sullivan and his Chinese language counterparts lined quite a lot of floor over many hours, and NPR’s John Ruwitch has been following all of it. Hello, John.
JOHN RUWITCH, BYLINE: Hey, Ailsa.
CHANG: Hey. OK, so this was Sullivan’s first journey to China as Biden’s nationwide safety adviser, proper? Like, why now – this journey?
RUWITCH: Yeah. As you already know, relations have been rocky. They type of hit backside, arguably, final yr – early final yr with that spy balloon incident. And since then…
CHANG: Proper.
RUWITCH: …Each side have actually been making an attempt to place issues on extra steady floor. And one of many essential channels of which were this dialog – sequence of conversations between Jake Sullivan and Wang Yi, who’s the Chinese language Communist Occasion’s prime overseas coverage official. They’ve met 5 instances for the reason that balloon incident, together with as soon as in Washington. So this was, in some methods, a reciprocal go to, with time working out because the Biden administration, you already know, approaches its finish. Sullivan mentioned he had 14 hours of conferences in Beijing.
CHANG: Wow.
RUWITCH: And chatting with the media afterwards, he repeated type of the Biden administration’s mantra about relations with China. They wish to handle the connection so competitors does not veer into battle.
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JAKE SULLIVAN: That’s ongoing work. And having the ability to attain the tip of President Biden’s administration with the connection on a steady foundation, regardless that we now have areas of distinction and areas of issue, that is one thing we’ll work in the direction of.
CHANG: OK. And I suppose that ongoing work consists of one other telephone name between the 2 presidents within the coming weeks. What else got here out of the assembly?
RUWITCH: Nicely, Sullivan met not solely with Wang Yi; however he sat down with Zhang Youxia, who’s a vice chairman of China’s Central Army Fee – principally prime brass – and the Individuals’s Liberation Military. They agreed to a dialogue quickly between army theater commanders within the Pacific, which is an enormous step. Sullivan additionally met with Xi Jinping whereas he was in Beijing. And based on China’s overseas ministry, Xi actually tried to drive residence the purpose that cooperation was the correct path for China-U.S. relations, that the 2 nations ought to coexist peacefully. He mentioned China’s coverage in the direction of the U.S. has been steady and indicated that he expects the identical in return.
CHANG: I imply, that is fascinating, particularly on condition that, you already know, we now have this U.S. election arising, a brand new administration in just a few months. Did that issue into these discussions, you suppose?
RUWITCH: You understand, Sullivan mentioned the election wasn’t actually mentioned, and he didn’t get a really feel for the way China’s management is considering the race. However he famous that he did increase the difficulty of election interference, which he mentioned he does each time he meets Chinese language officers to type of lay down a marker. And afterward, he was requested about what sort of questions the Chinese language leaders raised about China coverage in a possible Harris administration. Sullivan mentioned Harris has been a central member of the Biden administration’s overseas coverage crew and helped plan and execute coverage for the Indo-Pacific.
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SULLIVAN: So I used to be in a position to share my expertise and my perspective of working carefully with the vp and the position that she has performed over the course of the previous 4 years.
RUWITCH: So to some extent, he does seem to have telegraphed to the Chinese language management that he thinks U.S. coverage towards China, if Harris is elected, will likely be fairly constant. That is an enormous if, although – proper? – as a result of the race right here is fairly tight.
CHANG: Fairly tight, certainly. Little question Beijing has been watching this all very carefully. What can we find out about their tackle all of this?
RUWITCH: Nicely, in public, you already know, officers there are very restrained. They do not actually remark brazenly on the U.S. election, besides to say they do not need China to be solid as a nasty man through the campaigning. Beijing is lifelike about the truth that this nice energy competitors with the U.S. is right here to remain and can proceed beneath Trump and Harris. For China, the distinction that they see actually is in model fairly than substance.
CHANG: That’s NPR’s John Ruwitch. Thanks a lot, John.
RUWITCH: You are welcome.
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