China's FM to meet US security advisor in Thailand
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The US says the talks would take place over Friday and Saturday.
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This combination of pictures created on January 25, 2024, shows US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Davos, on January 16, 2024, and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Brasilia on January 19, 2024. (AFP)
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi will meet on Friday with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Thailand, as the two powers seek to improve relations after years of tensions.
Beijing and Washington have clashed in recent years on flashpoint issues from technology and trade to Taiwan and competing claims in the South China Sea.
In a bid to improve some of the worst relations in decades, US President Joe Biden met Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in San Francisco in November for talks that both sides described as a qualified success.
"As agreed by China and the United States, Wang Yi will hold a new round of meetings with National Security Advisor Sullivan of the United States in Bangkok," Beijing's foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that Wang would be in Thailand until Monday.
The US said the talks would take place over Friday and Saturday.
"This meeting continues the commitment by both sides at the November 2023 Woodside Summit between President Biden and President Xi to maintain strategic communication and responsibly manage the relationship," the White House said.
Speaking in Beijing this month, Wang said that while the relationship had encountered "serious difficulties", ties had "stabilised" last year.
But Wang's assessment came with the two powers most recently butting heads over elections in Taiwan, which Beijing claims.
A delegation of US lawmakers visited the island this week, meeting with President-elect Lai Ching-te and reaffirming Washington's support for Taipei.
In the run-up to the recent poll, Chinese officials slammed Lai as a dangerous separatist who would bring "war and decline" to Taiwan. And following a Washington missive congratulating him on his election, Beijing said it "strongly deplored" the statement, warning the United States against any support for "separatist forces" on the island.
In Beijing, the foreign ministry complained Thursday that Washington had "carried out a series of negative words and deeds" since Lai's election.
On Wednesday, 18 Chinese warplanes, six naval vessels, and three Chinese balloons were detected around Taiwan, Taipei's defense ministry said.
On the same day, a US warship sailed southward through the Taiwan Strait, a sensitive waterway separating the island from China, the US Navy said in a statement.
Spokesman Wang Wenbin urged the United States to "immediately stop infringing and provocative actions" and "stop causing trouble for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait."
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