Jake Sullivan and China’s top diplomat to hold back-channel talks

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US national security adviser Jake Sullivan will hold a private meeting with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi in the coming days, as the pair resume communications in a back channel that has been critical to stabilising relations.

Sullivan will meet Wang in an undisclosed south-east Asian country, in their first meeting since President Joe Biden met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in San Francisco in November, according to two people familiar with the plan.

The White House declined to comment. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.

US and Chinese officials last year restarted high-level engagements that were aimed at easing tensions after differences over issues including Taiwan’s status and a suspected Chinese spy balloon that floated over the US sent relations to their lowest ebb since the countries established diplomatic ties in 1979.

But in contrast to the meetings between US cabinet secretaries and their Chinese counterparts, which were announced in advance, Sullivan and Wang held two secret meetings — in Vienna and Malta — that were key in paving the way for Biden and Xi to meet in November.

US officials say the Sullivan-Wang channel has been effective because the meetings have occurred in private with no media attention.

The upcoming meeting comes as Washington presses Beijing to urge Tehran to rein in the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who have been attacking ships in the Red Sea in recent months.

Sullivan recently raised the issue in Washington with Liu Jianchao, head of the Communist party’s international department, who some believe will succeed Wang as foreign minister.

Wang has been serving as both the top Chinese foreign policy official and in the less influential role of foreign minister since July after China removed Qin Gang as foreign minister.

The Sullivan-Wang meeting comes one month after Lai Ching-te won the presidential election in Taiwan. China views Lai, who will be inaugurated in May, as a dangerous separatist.

Taiwan remains one of the most contentious issues between the countries. The US has raised concern about assertive Chinese military activity around the country. It is also watching closely to see how China handles the situation as Lai prepares for his inauguration.

China, which views Taiwan as its sovereign territory, accuses the US of intervening in its internal affairs with its approach to the island, which includes the sale of defensive weapons.

Relations between Washington and Beijing have shown signs of stabilising since Biden and Xi met. In one example, Admiral John Aquilino, head of US Indo-Pacific command, last month said China had not conducted any dangerous intercepts of US aircraft since the summit.

In October, the Pentagon accused China of having conducted 180 “risky and coercive” intercepts — where Chinese fighter jets fly dangerously close to US aircraft — over the previous two years. It said China had conducted another 100 against aircraft flown by US allies.

China criticises the US for flying surveillance aircraft near its coast even though the spy planes are operating in international airspace.

The US and China are expected to hold more top-level meetings this year. Treasury secretary Janet Yellen will travel to China following her first visit to Beijing in the role last year. People familiar with situation said secretary of state Antony Blinken was also discussing a possible trip but there were no concrete details at this point.