National security adviser Jake Sullivan will meet with a top Chinese diplomat and member of the Chinese Communist Party Politburo Yang Jiechi as tensions are rising over China’s aggression toward Taiwan. Sullivan will meet with Jiechi, a former Chinese ambassador to the U.S., in Zurich, Switzerland, this week. He will also meet with NATO and EU leaders to examine his conversation with Jiechi, according to National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne.
The White House said the purpose of the meeting is to “responsibly manage the competition between the United States and the People’s Republic of China.” The meeting will be the second in-person meeting between the Biden administration and Chinese officials. It comes at a time when there is a spike in Chinese aggression toward Taiwan, a longtime U.S. ally.
China taunted Taiwan in early September, saying that it cannot depend on U.S. support if China were to invade, referring to Biden’s then-ongoing chaotic withdrawal of the U.S. military from Afghanistan. The Chinese military deployed 52 warplanes into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) Monday, the highest number recorded since Taiwan began reporting such information in 2020.
The aircrafts included 34 J-16, two Su-30 fighter jets, 12 nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, two Y-8 anti-submarine warplanes, and two KJ-500 airborne control planes belonging to China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force, according to a statement from Taiwan’s defense ministry.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki reiterated U.S. support for Taiwan on China.
“Our commitment to Taiwan is rock solid and contributes to the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and within the region,” she told reporters during Monday’s press briefing. “We have been clear privately and publicly about our concern about [China’s] pressure and coercion toward Taiwan, and we will continue to watch the situation very closely.”
“We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure and coercion against Taiwan. And we have an abiding interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. That’s why we’ll continue to assist Taiwan in maintaining a sufficient self-defense capability,” she added.
