U.S.’ Sullivan to hold talks with China’s Yang

U.S. President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan will talk with China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi in Switzerland on Wednesday. The two party’s meeting upholds a pledge by the two superpowers to boost communication amid a deepening strategic rivalry.

The meeting, to be held in Zurich, comes at a time of increased tensions between the world’s two largest economies over a number of issues including Taiwan. It would also be Sullivan’s first face-to-face meeting with Yang since the two’s heated exchanges in Alaska in March, where U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was also involved.

In a statement, the White House said that the meeting follows up on Biden’s September 9 call with Chinese President Xi Jinping “as we continue to seek to responsibly manage the competition between the United States and the People’s Republic of China.”

The call ended an almost seven-month gap in direct communication between Biden and Xi, and the two discussed the need to ensure that the competition between the U.S. and China does not escalate into conflict.

In a brief statement, China’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that Yang and Sullivan will “exchange views on China-U.S. relations and relevant issues” in their Zurich meeting.