President Joe Biden’s effort is to foster renewed international relations with China by closely monitoring the nuclear risk on the Korean peninsula, the subject of the most recent talks between senior officials in Washington and Beijing.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and the head of China’s Central Foreign Affairs Commission Yang Jiechi met Monday in Luxembourg for a four-and-a-half-hour discussion consultation that a senior Biden administration official called “frank, thorough, substantive and productive. “. “” a call to the press later that day.
A reading released through the White House provided some main points about the meeting, saying the two men discussed “a number of regional and global security issues, as well as key issues in U. S. -China relations,” and Sullivan “emphasized the importance of keeping the lines of communication open for managing the festival between our two countries. “
The senior management official noted, however, that among the foreign affairs spaces discussed through Sullivan and Yang were Russia’s war in Ukraine and Washington’s “Indo-Pacific” strategy, adding the recent construction of engagements with allies, partners and other countries in the region.
Specifically, the official said Sullivan “has raised considerations about Beijing’s recent resolution to veto a UN Security Council solution amid North Korea’s exploratory verification and indications that Pyongyang is preparing its nuclear verification site for an imaginable weapons verification. “
North Korea has received extensive foreign sanctions since conducting its first nuclear weapons test in 2006, but the ruling Kim dynasty has continued with five other tests over the years, adding the lacheck test and the toughest to date, conducted in September 2017. . Chief Kim Jong Un.
North Korea has yet to resume nuclear testing, but in March it launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in nearly five years, marking the furthest to date in a failed peace procedure put forward by the United States and the two rival Koreas. in early 2018.
North Korea’s best friend, China, has subsidized sanctions that oppose North Korea, but the factor has been overshadowed in recent years by a growing geopolitical rivalry between Beijing and Washington.
“I think this situation is one where the U. S. The U. S. and China have a great history of cooperation, a history of [having] the ability to paint in combination with aligned interests,” the senior Biden management official said. “I think what I would say is that aspect has set out their positions and how we see the situation. “
“And certainly,” the official added, “Jake made it very clear that we believe this is a domain that the United States and China can work on together. “
Newsweek has reached out to the Chinese embassy in Washington for comment.
The high-level interaction between U. S. and Chinese officials came just a day after South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that lines of North Korea’s multi-launch rocket systems were fired. If confirmed, it would be the one in a series of demonstrations, adding a series of 8 ballistic missile launches last week.
However, North Korea’s state media has remained largely silent about the launches, focusing primarily on the country’s attempts to curb its first publicly declared COVID-19 outbreak and Kim-led anti-corruption efforts.
Washington and Seoul, for their part, took the opportunity to reaffirm their alliance. While Sullivan was speaking with Yang on Monday, U. S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with his South Korean counterpart, Park Jin, in Washington.
“We coordinate a lot with each other about the risk posed by the DPRK’s illegal ballistic missile and nuclear programs,” Blinken told a news conference in Park. beyond. “
And he reiterated the Biden administration’s position of seeking deterrence and international relations with North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“We continue to pursue the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and let me emphasize that the United States surely has no hostile intentions toward the DPRK,” Blinken said. “We are open to discussion without preconditions. We need to help the people of North Korea, adding with covid-19 vaccines. In fact, we have consistently presented our help during the pandemic and turned our backs during the terrible wave they are experiencing lately, adding to a serious economic and humanitarian crisis. “
Park said the United States and South Korea share a common assessment of North Korea’s recent moves, saying “any provocation by North Korea, adding a nuclear test, will get a united and joint reaction from our alliance and the foreign community. ” “.
“We have expressed a specific fear about North Korea’s increasingly competitive rhetoric regarding the use of tactical nuclear weapons,” Park said. “And we agree that the North Korea factor is one of the most sensible political priorities of the United States and the Republic. Continued provocations will only be deterrent measures and foreign sanctions from the alliance with a non-unusual understanding of the importance of prolonged deterrence. “
At the same time, South Korea’s most sensible diplomat also echoed Blinken’s commitment to unconditional discussion with North Korea and said Seoul is in a position “to adopt a more flexible and open technique to diplomacy” with Pyongyang.
Park called on North Korea to no longer isolate itself through nuclear control and on China to play a constructive role in reducing tensions in the region.
“China deserves to play a very positive role in persuading North Korea that maintaining peace and stability on the Korean peninsula demands a new way of thinking and making a smart resolution at this critical and vital time,” Park said. North Korea can look at the long term and make the right resolution. “
The assembly came two days after U. S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup on the sidelines of the Shangri-La discussion in Singapore.
According to a Pentagon report, the two men also discussed North Korea’s recent missile launches when they “decided to greatly coordinate their responses to the DPRK’s provocations over the long term and reaffirmed that trilateral cooperation with Japan sends a strong deterrent signal to the region. “
Biden visited South Korea and met with newly sworn in President Yoon Suk-yeol last month, the U. S. leader’s first visit to Asia since taking office last year. He then traveled to Japan, where he met with Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and participated in an assembly of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, a coalition formed by the United States, Australia, India and Japan.
The Quad has been criticized through Beijing as a means through Washington to identify a geopolitical bloc committed to countering and containing China’s influence in Asia.
The senior Biden management official in Monday’s press call declined to discuss the option of a new call or assembly between the U. S. leader and Chinese President Xi Jinping, but said there were expected to be “other possible assemblies in the coming months” among the representatives. of the two most sensitive powers.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Beijing time, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters that “the two sides agreed that it is mandatory and useful to open lines of communication,” but said he had no further data to provide on the issue.
This article has been updated with comments from Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin.