- The meeting was called after several senior officials visited Beijing in recent months and just ahead of Wang’s meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later this week.
- China said Vice President Han Zheng will represent China at the UN General Assembly this week in New York, indicating that Wang Yi and Xi Jinping will not attend.
- Reports issued by the White House and the Chinese Foreign Ministry characterized the two-day talks in Malta as “sincere, substantive and constructive”.
Editorial photo of USA and China flags.
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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met in Malta at the weekend. The bilateral talks are taking place ahead of a possible meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ meeting in November.
Wang and Sullivan last met in Vienna. Their meeting in Malta was called after several senior officials visited Beijing in recent months and just before Wang’s meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later this week.
This was reported by the Chinese Foreign Ministry Vice President Han Zheng will represent the country at the UN General Assembly in New York this week, indicating that Wang and Xi will not attend.
In statements issued White House and Chinese Ministry of Foreign AffairsThe two-day talks in Malta were characterized as “frank, substantive and constructive”.
The White House said the meeting was part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication and responsible management of relations, while the Chinese said the meeting was aimed at stabilizing and improving Sino-US relations.
Wang and Sullivan discussed a range of issues, including: global and regional security, Russia’s war against Ukraine, the Korean Peninsula and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
The apparent disappearances of former Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and Defense Minister Li Shangfu were not on Wang and Sullivan’s official agenda in Malta. Wang resumed his former role as foreign minister after Xi Jinping dismissed his successor Qin.
