White House’s Sullivan to Meet CCP’s Top Diplomat in Thailand

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington on Sept. 21, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan will meet with China’s foreign minister Wang Yi in Thailand, as the Biden administration continues its policy of engagement with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, said in a statement on Thursday that Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Wang will meet on Jan. 26 and 27 in Bangkok. She added that President Joe Biden and CCP leader Xi Jinping have laid out the importance of the two sides holding talks.

“This meeting continues the commitment by both sides at the November 2023 Woodside Summit between President Biden and President Xi to maintain strategic communication and responsibly manage the relationship,” Ms. Watson said.

President Biden and Xi met on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November last year, during which the two leaders agreed to resume high-level military-to-military communications, open a presidential hotline, and crack down on fentanyl. However, some analysts said that the Biden–Xi meeting resulted in few substantial deliverables.

Since the November meeting, U.S.–China relations remain fraught with challenges.

In early December, the U.S. government imposed sanctions on two Chinese officials and several entities for persecuting Uyghurs with “serious human rights abuses” in China’s far-western region of Xinjiang.

Weeks later, the Chinese regime retaliated by imposing sanctions on a U.S. research firm and two individuals.

Iran

Attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group on commercial ships and other targets have also become an issue between Washington and Beijing. On Jan. 23, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the United States wanted to see China putting pressure on Houthis.

“China has influence over Tehran; they have influence in Iran. And they have the ability to have conversations with Iranian leaders that we can’t,” Mr. Kirby told reporters. “And so, what we’ve said repeatedly is: We would welcome a constructive role by China, using the influence and the access that we know they have, to try to help stem the flow of weapons and munitions to the Houthis.”

In response to Mr. Kirby’s statement, House Armed Services Committee Republicans took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to ask, “Is the Biden Administration really imploring China to fix Biden’s failed Iran strategy?”

Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also questioned the Biden administration’s decision in an X post on Jan. 24.

“The Biden Admin asking #China to help stabilize the Red Sea is the definition of leading from behind. Instead, the administration should revisit its #Iran policy that has allowed the regime to spread terrorism without limits,” Mr. Risch wrote.

The White House did not say whether Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Wang will discuss the Houthi attacks or any other topic when the two meet.

On Friday afternoon, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry indicated Taiwan will be one of the topics during the meeting, and the two will exchange views on “international and regional issues of common interest.”

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi (C) during a bilateral meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the State Department in Washington, on Oct. 27, 2023. Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo

Issues

Taiwan, a self-ruled island the CCP claims as a part of its territory, just held a presidential election earlier this month. To Beijing’s ire, Taiwanese voters did not choose a pro-Beijing candidate to be the island’s next president; instead, they elected Lai Ching-te—the current vice president of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)—whom the communist regime has accused of being a “separatist.”

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was one of many foreign leaders who have congratulated Mr. Lai for his election victory. The Chinese regime responded by lodging a complaint to the U.S. State Department.

It is unclear if Mr. Sullivan will bring up issues such as China’s human rights records and the CCP’s malign influence in the United States when meeting Mr. Wang.

On Jan. 22, FBI Houston published an advisory on X, asking victims of the CCP’s transnational repression in the Houston area to contact the agency.

“The government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) may be cyberstalking, physically intimidating, and harassing Chinese citizens, naturalized U.S. citizens, and families of dissidents who speak out against the Chinese Communist Party in Texas,” the agency wrote.

Mr. Wang and Mr. Sullivan have met three times since 2023. The two met in Vienna in May before meeting in Malta in September and in Washington a month later.

Following the Washington meeting, the White House described their talks as “candid, constructive, and substantive discussions,” and the two discussed Russia’s war in Ukraine and Taiwan, among other topics.

In a separate statement, Ms. Watson said Mr. Sullivan will be in Thailand for three days ending on Jan. 27, during which he will meet with senior Thai officials including Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.