WASHINGTON, Nov 12 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden wants to restore military ties with China, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday, days before the president’s planned meeting with China. Chinese leader.
Biden will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in person for the first time in a year on Wednesday during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco. This will be only the second in-person meeting between the two leaders since Biden took office in January 2021.
“The president is committed to seeing the restoration of military-to-military ties because he believes it is in the national security interest of the United States,” Sullivan said in an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” . “We need these lines of communication so that there are no errors, miscalculations or miscommunication.”
Sullivan said reestablishing military ties could happen at all levels, from senior management to the tactical operational level, as well as “on the water and in the air in the Indo-Pacific.”
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 leaders’ summit in Bali, Indonesia November 14, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque Acquire license rights
Sullivan said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Biden would seek to “move the ball forward” on military ties during his meeting with Xi, but declined to provide further details.
“The Chinese have basically broken those communications links. President Biden would like to restore them,” Sullivan said. “It’s a priority item on the agenda.”
The Biden-Xi meeting is expected to cover global issues ranging from the war between Israel and Hamas to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, North Korea’s ties to Russia, Taiwan, the Indo-Pacific, human rights of man, fentanyl production, artificial intelligence, as well as “fair” trade and economic relations. , said a senior American official.
Relations between the two countries turned frosty after Biden in February ordered the shooting down of a suspected Chinese spy balloon flying over the United States. But senior Biden administration officials have since traveled to Beijing and met with their counterparts to rebuild communications and trust.
Reporting by Katharine Jackson, Arshad Mohammed and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Scott Malone and Grant McCool
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