US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan held “candid, substantive, and constructive discussions” with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on Tuesday. The White House detailed that the discussions focused on maintaining a friendly bilateral relationship between the two countries. Sullivan arrived for his first visit to China as national security adviser on Tuesday and is expected to stay through Thursday. Previewing his travel, an unnamed senior White House official predicted that Sullivan and Wang would hold discussions lasting from ten to 12 hours, as they have in the past.
The Chinese broadcaster CGTN aired a video on Wednesday of Sullivan and Wang briefing reporters before their private conversation in which they emphasized seeking to avoid open hostilities, despite their disagreements on fundamental political issues such as genocide, the existence of private property, and colonialism.
Chinese state media previewed the meetings with belligerent articles demanding that Sullivan use the visit to learn “how to listen” and abandon an “incorrect position and understanding of China,” emphasizing China’s false claims to the sovereign nation of Taiwan. The White House readout of Sullivan’s meeting with Wang noted that the two discussed China’s threats to colonize Taiwan, but prioritized topics in which it claimed the two found common ground.
They discussed progress and next steps on implementation of the Woodside Summit commitments, including counternarcotics, military-to-military communications, and AI safety and risk,” the readout detailed. Mr. Sullivan and Director Wang discussed next steps to reduce the flow of illicit synthetic drugs, continue repatriation of undocumented migrants, and law enforcement cooperation.
They underscored the importance of concrete steps to tackle the climate crisis and welcomed further discussions during Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy John Podesta’s upcoming travel to China,” the statement continued. The White House also hinted that, thanks to the meeting between the two, Biden and genocidal Chinese dictator Xi Jinping would hold a “a leader-level call in the coming weeks.
The flagship Chinese news network Xinhua similarly listed “drug control, law enforcement, repatriation of illegal immigrants, and climate change mitigation” as topics of discussion in its report on the talks on Wednesday. It offered no details on the content of the conversations aside from a mutual commitment to cooperate on the listed topics.
China is one of the world’s most destructive forces on each one of the topics Xinhua listed. On drug control, China is the source of the vast majority of precursor ingredients to produce fentanyl, a deadly opioid killing thousands of Americans a year. The Chinese government has engaged in expansive illegal “law enforcement” activities globally, including the establishment of illegal “police stations” to persecute anti-communists on foreign soil.
The topic did not feature prominently in Chinese or American reports of the first day of Sullivan’s talks, though is expected to surface on Wednesday or Thursday.