The White House has announced that National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will travel to China to meet with Foreign Minister Wang Yi in an effort to address tensions between the two countries, just months before the upcoming presidential elections in the United States. Sullivan will visit Beijing from August 27 to 29, marking the first visit by a U.S. security advisor since 2016. However, other senior U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, have visited China in the past two years.
A senior U.S. official told reporters that the trip does not indicate any softening of President Joe Biden’s approach to China and that his administration continues to view the relationship as “extremely competitive.” The official stated, “We are committed to making investments, strengthening our alliances, and taking necessary steps in technology and national security,” referring to the extensive restrictions on U.S. technology transfers to China that have been implemented under Biden. “However, we are committed to managing this competition responsibly and preventing it from escalating into conflict.”
The relationship between China and the United States has been tumultuous in recent years. The two countries have been at odds over their economic ambitions, and incidents such as the downing of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon last year have further intensified tensions. For instance, the visit of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan in 2022 prompted a sharp response from Beijing, which viewed her trip as an endorsement of the island’s claims to sovereignty.
In April, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Secretary of State Blinken that the two superpowers “should be partners rather than rivals” and should help each other succeed instead of harming each other, according to the Chinese news agency Xinhua.
Additionally, Sullivan will discuss North Korea and the Middle East with Wang, as China has criticized U.S. support for Israel, while Washington has urged China to rein in Iran. Sullivan’s visit comes shortly before the U.S. midterm elections in November, where Vice President Kamala Harris is running to succeed outgoing President Biden. If she wins, Harris is expected to continue seeking dialogue with China while maintaining pressure.
In her speech for Thursday’s nomination for the Democratic Party’s presidential candidacy, she stated, “I will ensure that we lead the world into the future in space and artificial intelligence—that America, not China, wins the competition for the 21st century, and that we strengthen, not retreat from, our global leadership.”
Meanwhile, her Republican opponent, Donald Trump, has rhetorically pledged to pursue a tougher stance against China; however, some of his advisors foresee a broad global confrontation ahead.