Shi Jiangtao

My Take | Jake Sullivan’s China visit lays stress on need for ‘intense diplomacy’ as US election looms

Both sides were keen to highlight the progress made, but Beijing also used the US national security adviser’s visit to set out its red lines

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Jake Sullivan, pictured with US ambassador Nicholas Burns, is preferred by many in Beijing over Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Photo: Reuters

Shi Jiangtao

Published: 8:19pm, 3 Sep 2024Updated: 9:29pm, 3 Sep 2024

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan, one of the main architects of Washington’s China policy over the past four years, finally visited Beijing last week.

The three-day trip included a meeting with President Xi Jinping and marathon 14-hour talks to China’s top diplomat Wang Yi in the pair’s fourth “strategic communication” since May last year.

He also had a rare sit-down with Zhang Youxia, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, something, as Sullivan pointed out, “that has not happened for a US official in eight years”.

“I think the meeting with vice-chairman Zhang was very important. There is no substitute for actually being able to sit across the table,” he said.

Both sides agreed to arrange a call between Xi and Joe Biden in the coming weeks and, addressing a particular concern of Washington’s, set up a video call between military commanders “in the near future”.

Jake Sullivan’s visit included 14 hours of talks with Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Photo: EPA-EFE

Sullivan described the planned call between Samuel Paparo, who heads the US Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii, and his Chinese counterpart at the Southern Theatre Command Wu Yanan as “a very positive outcome”.