US national security adviser talks with a top Chinese military official in Beijing

BEIJING: United States National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met Thursday with a top Chinese military official as the two countries strengthen communication in an effort to prevent differences over the South China Sea and Taiwan from spiralling into conflict.

The meeting came one day after the White House said that both countries would plan for a phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden in the coming weeks.

Sullivan was wrapping up a three-day trip to China, his first as national security adviser and one aimed at stabilising bilateral relations to avoid conflict. His main talks were held over the past day and a half with Wang Yi, the foreign minister and the ruling Communist Party's top foreign policy official.

The meeting Thursday was with Gen. Zhang Youxia, one of two vice chairs of the Central Military Commission, an organisation that Xi personally heads. It was a rare meeting with a US official that came at a time when both sides are eager to keep relations on an even keel ahead of a change in the US presidency in January.

“Your request to meet with me shows the value you attach to military security and the relationship between our militaries,” Zhang told Sullivan in opening remarks.

A White House statement after the talks said the two had “recognised the progress in sustained, regular military-military communications over the past ten months” and noted the agreement announced Wednesday to hold a telephone call between commanders at the theatre-level in the near future.

China suspended communication between the two militaries and in a few other fields after a senior US lawmaker, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, visited Taiwan in August 2022. Talks were only gradually resumed more than a year later, after Xi and Biden met outside San Francisco in November.

A theatre-level call would be between Adm. Samuel Paparo, who heads the US Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii, and his Chinese counterpart, said Danny Russel, a vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York.

“This theatre command-level dialogue is critical for crisis prevention but something the Chinese military has been resisting,” Russel said.

A White House statement after talks with Wang concluded Wednesday said both sides would keep lines of communication open, including planning for a “leader-level call” in the coming weeks. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Wang and Sullivan discussed “a new round of interactions between the two countries' heads of state to take place in the near future.”

There was no indication whether the two leaders might meet in person before Biden leaves the Oval Office.