Zhang Youxia, China’s most senior uniformed military official, has met visiting US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
Their interaction was confirmed by video footage at the beginning of the meeting in Beijing by Chinese media.
Zhang, vice-chair of the powerful Central Military Commission, is the most senior military official to meet a US official from the Biden administration.
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On Thursday, Sullivan will conclude a three-day trip that marks the first visit to China by a White House national security adviser in eight years.
US President Joe Biden, who will end his presidency in a few months, has not visited China so far during his tenure – the first president not to visit since Jimmy Carter.
On Wednesday, the White House said Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping would speak by phone “in coming weeks”.
The meeting between Zhang and Sullivan comes amid several clashes between China and the Philippines near disputed shoals in the South China Sea. Washington has pledged to protect Manila under the US-Philippines Mutual Defence Treaty.
The two sides also disagree over Taiwan. Beijing has repeatedly urged Washington to stop supplying arms to Taipei.
Beijing regards Taiwan as part of China, to be reunified by force if necessary, and has repeatedly warned that this is the main “red line” in US-China relations that must not be crossed.
Most countries, including the US, do not recognise self-ruled Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington opposes any move to take it by force and is legally obliged to arm the island to defend itself.
More to follow ...
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