Biden to send adviser to China amid foreign policy focus in final months

US President Joe Biden will dispatch his national security adviser Jake Sullivan to China next week as the White House aims to manage the complicated US-China relationship in the Democrat’s final months in office, according to the White House.

Mr Sullivan’s three-day visit with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that is set to begin on Tuesday is expected to raise US concerns about China’s support for Russia’s military industrial complex as Moscow’s war in Ukraine grinds on, Chinese military assertiveness in the South China Sea, provocative action by North Korea, the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, and Beijing’s tensions with Taiwan.

The Chinese are likely to raise concerns about American tariffs as Beijing continues to repair its economy in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Biden in May slapped major new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, advanced batteries, solar cells, steel, aluminium and medical equipment.

Mr Sullivan and Mr Wang are also expected to discuss cooperation between the two countries on stemming the flow of pre-cursor chemicals used to make fentanyl, maintaining communication between the two countries, and artificial intelligence.

“These meetings are consistent with efforts to maintain this strategic channel of communication to responsibly manage the relationship and are a product of the November 2023 Woodside Summit between President Biden and President Xi (Jinping),” said White House National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett, referring to the leaders face-to-face talks on the side-lines of last year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco.

This will be Mr Sullivan’s ninth meeting with Mr Wang and his predecessors over the course of the administration to discuss the two economic rivals complicated relationship, but his first visit to China as national security adviser.

The last US national security adviser to visit China was Susan Rice in 2016.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the two sides discussed a visit by Mr Sullivan at last year’s Biden-Xi summit and it comes after months of planning by the two sides.

The announcement was made as Mr Biden is vacationing in California’s Santa Ynez Valley, where he has spent some time meeting with aides charting out policy priorities for the final months of his presidency.

The summit is not expected to lead to any major announcements by the two countries, according to a senior administration official.

The official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House, said the focus of the meeting is to maintain communications on the host of difficult issues and demonstrate “that even amidst competition that we can find constructive ways to work with each other”.

The high-level visit by Mr Sullivan to China could potentially set the ground for another face-to-face meeting for Mr Biden with Mr Xi.

The two leaders last November spent four hours together at a bucolic Northern California estate — in meetings, a working lunch and a garden stroll — as they looked to steady a relationship that has been fraught for much of Mr Biden’s time in office.

Their meeting led to modest agreements to combat illegal fentanyl and re-establish military communications.

But there were still deep differences on economic competition and global security threats.

The Sullivan visit comes as both candidates looking to succeed Mr Biden, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump, are vowing to carry out tough China policies.