U.S., China look to move beyond balloon incident to stabilize ties
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[May 12, 2023]
By Steve Holland, Michael Martina and David Brunnstrom
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden's national security adviser
met China's top diplomat this week and both sides recognized the need to
move beyond an alleged spy balloon incident that caused a pause in
relations between the superpowers, a senior U.S. official said on
Thursday.
The White House hoped the eight hours of talks in Vienna on Wednesday
and Thursday between U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan and
China's top diplomat Wang Yi would pave the way for more communications
between the world's two biggest economies, the official said.
China's Washington embassy said the two had "candid, in-depth,
substantive and constructive discussions ... on removing obstacles in
China-U.S. relations and stabilizing the relationship from
deterioration."
The U.S. official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, said
Sullivan and Wang did not discuss dates for a possible rescheduled visit
to Beijing by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, but said the White
House expects the two sides to continue engaging in the coming months.
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Biden has been seeking to hold a phone call with Chinese President Xi
Jinping but the official had no update on this effort.
Blinken canceled a planned trip to Beijing in February after the U.S.
shot down a Chinese balloon that flew over sensitive military sites,
plunging the rivals into a diplomatic crisis.
Asked what was discussed about the incident, the official replied: “I
think both sides recognized that that unfortunate incident led to a bit
of a pause in engagement. We’re seeking now to get beyond that, and
reestablish some just standard, normal channel of communications.”
The official said the U.S. side had made clear where it stood on the
breach-of-sovereignty issue, but was "trying to look forward from here
on" and seek issues where China and the U.S. could potentially work
together.
KEEPING AN OPEN CHANNEL FOR COMMUNICATION
U.S.-China ties have been on a downward slide over issues ranging from
accusations of Chinese spying and human rights abuses to U.S. efforts to
build up military alliances to curb China's ambitions toward Taiwan and
in the Pacific.
The official said both sides agreed to maintain the channel of
communication between Sullivan and Wang and that Sullivan had stressed
that Washington did not seek conflict or confrontation.
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![](../images/051123PIX/news_l75.jpg)
U.S. White House national security
adviser Jake Sullivan speaks at a press briefing at the White House
in Washington, U.S., December 12, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File
Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2019/Sep/05/images/ads/current/stclara_lda_SPONSOR_090519.png)
Sullivan raised concerns about American citizens detained in China
and stressed that this was a personal priority of Biden. He also
raised concerns about the potential for Chinese military assistance
to Russia in Ukraine.
A White House statement earlier said the talks sought to build on
Biden and Xi's meeting in Indonesia in November.
The Vienna meeting came ahead of an expected visit to Asia by Biden
starting with a G7 summit in Japan from May 19-21 that is expected
to look for closer alignment of the group's approach towards China.
Blinken's canceled trip had been intended to help repair relations
after an earlier rupture over a visit by then-House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi's to Taiwan, the self-governed island that China considers
its own.
The United States has expressed its eagerness to reschedule
Blinken's visit and arrange other senior-level meetings as part of
an effort to keep relations from veering toward conflict.
Blinken did meet Wang Yi at the Munich Security Conference after the
balloon incident, but this did not soothe tensions.
Daniel Russel, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia in the Obama
administration, said communication between the U.S. national
security adviser and the top Chinese foreign affairs official has
been historically important and today "appears to be virtually the
only significant channel still operating."
He said the avoidance of damaging public sparring seen in the past
was encouraging, but did not mean relations were necessarily on the
mend.
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"Both sides are delivering stern – sometimes angry – messages," he
said, "but these meetings create the possibility they may find some
common ground that can help stabilize a relationship that is
dangerously volatile."
(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Additional reporting by Michael Martina
and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Paul Grant, Jonathan Oatis, Don
Durfee, Nick Macfie and Daniel Wallis)
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