WASHINGTON—The next call between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping is likely to occur this spring, according to a U.S. senior administration official, who declined to be more specific.
The official noted on Jan. 27 that Secretary of State Antony Blinken would visit China again this year and that the United States and China would initiate a working group on counternarcotics on Jan. 30. Military maritime consultative agreement meetings will also occur at the minister-secretary level this spring, followed by military talks between theater commanders and at minister-secretary levels.
Beijing reopened its recurring cabinet-level communications with Washington when Mr. Biden and Xi met at the Woodside Summit in California in November 2023. The two leaders agreed to resume military-to-military communication and to collaborate on curbing fentanyl flow into the United States, as well as addressing artificial intelligence-related risks.
The official stressed that Biden–Xi calls are “absolutely critical to maintaining direction in the relationship and following up on some of the issues from Woodside.”
The schedules of the next U.S.–China high-level meetings were discussed at the two-day meetings between U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Bangkok on Jan. 26 and 27.
Regarding Taiwan, the official said Mr. Sullivan reiterated to Mr. Wang the U.S. position of “opposing unilateral changes to the status quo” from either Taiwan or Beijing.
US Wants China to Press Iran on Ending Red Sea Crisis
The White House is unclear about whether China has pressed Iran to end the Red Sea crisis, according to the senior official at the press call.The Houthis, an Iran-backed rebel group in Yemen, have attacked more than two dozen cargo ships with drones, missiles, and speedboats in the Red Sea since mid-November 2023. Since then, many ships have had to extend their shipping route by navigating the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa instead of going through the Suez Canal via the Red Sea.
“There should be a clear interest in China in terms of quieting some of those attacks,” the official said, noting that the Houthi’s destabilization of global shipping shouldn’t be just a concern for the United States and China.
However, she noted that it remains to be seen if China would choose to yield its influence on Iran to address the issue.
She said that Mr. Sullivan “raised the importance of Beijing using its substantial leverage with Iran to call for an end and bringing an end to these dangerous tasks.”
“It’s not the first time we’ve called on China to play a constructive role. Beijing says they are raising this with the Iranians,” she said.
“But we’re certainly going to wait to see before we comment further on how effectively or whether we think they’re actually raising it.”
In terms of China playing a positive role in mitigating the Red Sea crisis, she said: “The Chinese are telling us directly that they’re raising it with Iran. But I think we’re looking to actual facts on the ground, and those attacks seem to be continuing.”
The current Red Sea crisis is a spin-off of the Israel–Hamas war on international water, with the potential of spiraling into a proxy war between the United States and Iran.
The Houthi attacks have brought about significant disruption to international commercial shipping. The Suez Canal, which is a choke point between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea and a key path for goods to reach Europe, makes up about 11 percent of global maritime trade.
In response, the United States formed an international coalition and has conducted air and missile strikes against Houthi-held territory in Yemen since Jan. 11.
Jan. 22 marked the latest joint attacks on the Houthis by the U.S.-led coalition, targeting an underground storage site and missile and air surveillance capabilities.
