First Time Ever Since the Spy Balloon Incident, Senior US and Chinese Officials Meet Eight Hours in Austria

Jake Sullivan and Wang Yi's meeting with their respective delegations in Vienna. (Twitter/@NSC_Spox)

JAKARTA - The United States' National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi in Vienna, Austria for open and constructive talks, the White House said Thursday.

The previously undisclosed meeting was one of the highest-level engagements between US and Chinese officials since a spy balloon incident earlier this year, which caused Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone a planned trip to Beijing, amid a rift between the two countries.

"This meeting is part of an ongoing effort to keep lines of communication open and manage competition responsibly," according to the White House, citing CNN, May 12.

"The two sides had candid, substantive, and constructive discussions regarding key issues in the US-China bilateral relationship, global and regional security issues, Russia's war against Ukraine, and cross-Strait issues, among other topics," the statement continued.

Meanwhile, citing Reuters, the meeting of the two senior officials lasted for two days, Wednesday and Thursday, with a total duration of eight hours.

A senior US administration official said the meeting was an attempt to restore communications after the spy balloon incident.

Yesterday and today, @JakeSullivan46 met with PRC Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi in Vienna to maintain open lines of communication and manage competition responsibly. The discussions were candid, substantive and addressed a range of issues. pic.twitter.com/YCVWaX5uLv

— Adam Hodge (@NSC_Spox) May 11, 2023

"I think both sides are aware that the unfortunate incident caused a slight difference in communications. We are now working to go beyond that and re-establish normal, standard channels of communication," the official said in a phone call with reporters after the meeting.

"We made clear where we stand in terms of violation of sovereignty, we have been clear from the start. But again, trying to look ahead from here," the official added, noting that they were focused on "how do we manage other ongoing issues as and managing tensions in existing relationships."

Further, the official said Chinese officials saw the importance of engaging with the US to try to manage the relationship, which the official said was a "deviation" from Beijing's statements regarding previous US-China engagement.

"I think both sides thought it would be useful to try to have another conversation from this level of the director of the national security adviser," he said. The last time officials met at that level was last June.

"I also think both sides see value in this channel, for addressing some of the more complex issues in the bilateral relationship," the official added.

Sullivan told Wang the US and China were 'rivals' but the US "does not seek conflict or confrontation". He took up the cases of three American citizens who were illegally detained – Mark Swidan, Kai Li, and David Lin. The two sides also discussed counter-narcotics issues.

However, it was reported that the meeting did not specifically discuss the rescheduling of Foreign Minister Blinken's visit or the scheduling of a telephone call between President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping.

US-China relations have deteriorated over a range of issues ranging from accusations of Chinese espionage and human rights violations to US attempts to build a military alliance to curb China's ambitions in Taiwan and in the Pacific.

In addition, the Vienna meeting will be held when President Biden plans to visit Asia, starting with the G7 Summit in Japan on May 19-21.