Jake Sullivan, national security adviser to US President Joe Biden, and Yang Jiechi, director of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Foreign Affairs Committee, met on Wednesday, October 6, in Zurich (Switzerland). The six-hour interview was apparently less tense than the previous meeting between two American and Chinese delegations in Alaska on March 18, although it did not allow for a decisive breakthrough. According to the White House, the two officials reached a ” agreement in principle “ on a “Virtual meeting” entre Joe Biden et Xi Jinping ” before the end of the year “.
The exchange, which has not yet been confirmed by Beijing, would be the third interview, but the first by video, between the two leaders who spoke to each other for the first time by phone in February, when Jo Biden presented his wishes for the Chinese New Year to Xi Jinping, then they chatted a second time for ninety minutes on September 9. A meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit to be held in Rome on October 30 has been mentioned, but official media have indicated that the Chinese president will not attend the summit. The latter has not left China since mid-January 2020. It is therefore assumed that he will not attend the climate conference which opens in Glasgow on the 1is November.
The statement issued by the White House after the Zurich meeting insists on the interest of the two countries in “Working together to face vital international challenges and to manage risks in our relationship”. The text evokes ” preoccupation ” the United States, “ including on human rights subjects ”, and specifies that Washington “Will continue to invest in [sa] own national strength “ and of “Work closely with [ses] allies and partners ”.
Chinese air incursions
For its part, Beijing continues to blame Washington for the deterioration of their relations. “The American side must (…) adequately apprehend China’s domestic and foreign policies and its strategic intentions ”, Yang Jiechi said, adding that he refused to define Sino-US relations as “Competitive”. Member of the political bureau of the Communist Party, Yang Jiechi is the main person in charge of Chinese diplomacy.
This meeting comes as China leads, since 1is October, an unprecedented number of air incursions – 154 according to the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense – into the Taiwan Air Defense Identification Zone. In a column published Tuesday by the review Foreign Affairs, President Tsai Ing-wen believes that “If Taiwan were to fall, the consequences would be catastrophic for peace in the region and for the democratic alliance system.”
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