Aug. 23 (UPI) — National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will meet with senior officials in China during a trip there next week, laying the groundwork for a meeting between President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Sullivan will be in China from August 27 to August 29 and discuss “bilateral, regional and global issues” the White House confirmed Friday.
The trip would make Sullivan the first U.S. National Security Adviser to visit China on official business since 2016, Politico reported, citing sources inside the White House.
“These meetings are consistent with efforts to maintain this strategic channel of communication to responsibly manage the relationship and are a product of the November 2023 Woodside Summit between President Biden and President Xi,” the White House said in a statement.
A proposed meeting between Biden and Xi would reportedly take place later this year, following the U.S. election on Nov. 5.
Sullivan is scheduled to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during the trip. The two are expected to talk about several key topics, including continued military tensions in the South China Sea, the present situation in Gaza, and China’s sales of non-lethal technology to Russia for its war in Ukraine, according to the Politico source.
“The purpose of this strategic level of communication is really to get into details on…intensive policy, how we see different situations. It really is about clearing up misperceptions and avoiding this competition from gearing into conflict, more than anything else,” a senior unnamed White House official told Politico in an interview.
Biden and Xi last met in person in November of 2023. Following the meeting, China pledged to crack down on the flow of Fentanyl into the United States. Use of the powerful opiate has soared in recent years.
In April, the two leaders discussed AI, counternarcotics as well as Russian access to Chinese technology.
Sullivan has previously met with Wang prior to Biden-Xi meetings. Both Biden and Xi are expected to attend the 2024 G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The conference takes place after the U.S. election.