Biden Wants US to Open Military Ties with China: National Security Advisor
President Joe Biden will be asking Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday to restore military-to-military contacts that were severed last year, White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan said Sunday.
In June, China rebuffed Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s request to resume those contacts, although Blinken said he repeatedly asked China to do so, according to CNBC.
China formally severed regular armed forces contacts in August 2022 after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, according to The Associated Press. The visit was seen as giving official sanction to the existence of self-governing Taiwan, which China claims is actually part of its country.
Sullivan said getting China to say yes to the contacts “has been a priority for President Biden.
