At a time of rising tension over several issues including Taiwan, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will hold talks in Switzerland this week with China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi, Al Arabiya reported on Tuesday.
According to sources familiar with details of the meeting, the talks, most likely to take place on Wednesday, would come less than a month after US President Joe Biden had telephone call with China’s President Xi Jinping and are aimed to rebuild communication channels and implement consensus reached between both presidents.
The US- China relations deteriorated sharply under former US President Trump though President Biden has also maintained pressure on Beijing, especially on issues like Hong Kong, the Xinjiang region and the origins of COVID-19.
The increased US support for Taiwan that White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki recently justified saying it contributes to the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and within the region, has additionally angered China that believes Washington is colluding with outside forces fighting for formal independence of the island.
Psaki also reiterated Biden administration’s concern about the China’s pressure and coercion toward Taiwan.
Another subject on the agenda of the meeting are trade tensions caused by Beijing’s failure to keep promises made in Trump’s trade deal and its harmful industrial policies US demands to be ended. In that context, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai arrived in Paris Monday to participate in OECD’s meetings later this week.
Be the first to comment