US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan meets one of Chinese President Xi Jinping's top military officials on Thursday as he wraps up three days of talks in Beijing intended to ease simmering tensions between the two superpowers.
Sullivan is expected to press for enhanced working-level military to military communications when he meets General Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of China's paramount military body, the Central Military Commission.
It is the first meeting between Zhang and a Biden administration official. Zhang is believed to be close to Xi and has survived turmoil in the country’s military ranks.
Sullivan will also talk further with China's top diplomat Wang Yi, seeking to calm tensions ahead of the Nov 5 US election.
With their teams gathering behind closed doors at a lush resort on the outskirts of the Chinese capital, contrasting views over the Middle East and Ukraine, Chinese territorial claims from Taiwan to the South China Sea and trade are likely to be on the agenda.
In lengthy meetings on Wednesday, the pair discussed the prospect of fresh talks soon between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping as well as possible communications between theatre-level military commands - a long-sought demand from Washington.
"The key to the smooth development of China-US interaction lies in treating each other as equals," Wang told Sullivan, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
"The two sides held candid, substantive, and constructive discussions on a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues," the White House said.
In the final months of his presidency, Biden has pushed direct diplomacy to influence Xi and keep those tensions at bay; US Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate in November's election, would likely pursue a similar strategy.
However, many analysts aligned with former President and current Republican candidate Donald Trump see that approach as too soft in the face of China's increasingly assertive foreign policy.
The US also wants China to take more action at home to prevent the development of chemicals that can be made into fentanyl, the leading cause of US drug overdoses, and reach an understanding about safety standards for artificial intelligence.
Beijing plans to express its disapproval over US tariffs on a range of manufactured goods and export controls targeting Chinese chip makers, and talk about its claims of sovereignty over democratically ruled Taiwan.
