Washington will brief Taipei after US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) meet in Bali, Indonesia, on the sidelines of a G20 summit next week, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Thursday.
“We’ll have the opportunity, as an administration, to brief Taiwan on the results of that meeting,” Sullivan told a news briefing, referring to the scheduled talks between Biden and Xi on Monday, which are to be the first in-person meeting between the two leaders after Biden took office.
“I’m confident that they [Taiwan] will feel very secure and comfortable in the United States’ position when it comes to our support for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and our commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act, which does commit the United States to ensuring we’re providing the articles for Taiwan’s defense,” he added.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The planned meeting would provide an opportunity for Washington and Beijing to “better understand one another’s priorities and intentions, to address differences, and to identify areas where we can work together,” Sullivan said.
He added that Biden would be “direct and straightforward” with Xi during their discussions.
Biden is expected to touch upon China’s military “activity that threatens peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” human rights abuses, North Korea’s nuclear threats and the Ukraine crisis, a senior US official said in a background briefing the same day.
In Beijing, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) said yesterday that any such briefing by the US would contravene a US promise to maintain unofficial contact with the nation.
“It is egregious in nature. China is firmly opposed to it,” Zhao said shortly after the ministry announced that Xi would meet Biden, and also attend the G20 meeting and an APEC summit next week.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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